The Despair Clean-up Crew
by TrulyConfused
Summary: Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! You and 14 others have been selected to attend in the Hope's Peak recovery investigation, what's that? Well after the first mutual killing game set it survivors into the world, the school was left abandoned. So the future foundation is sending you back in to clean up the mess left behind, what can go wrong! (SYOC CLOSED)
1. Prologue

"You and fourteen others have been assigned to clean up and covert hopes peak academy into a better safe house," the branch officer spat, handing you the file detailing the mission orders.

Before opening the file you stare at the large black letters on the file, spelling 'Hopes Peak Recovery Investigation,' then you read the outline of what's to happen. It's just a more confusing, drawn out way of saying what you've already heard, but you continue reading it.

This isn't going to end well, you think.

Somewhere far off, deep with in hopes peak an agitated yell echoes, "I didn't think the school would be in this bad of a shape," a masked figure sighed "no air, no air conditioning, molding food, RATS!" At the last word the figure kicked at a desk, sending rodents and equipment scattering.

"Well I guess that's what we're here for, the good old despair clean up crew," their obscured face twisting into a grin, "let's get this place back up and in order."

The figure stepped out of the monitor room to stand before others dressed in Monokuma heads,

"We've got a killing game to redo!" They shouted, "so let's get this place perfect for when the stars come! And remember we're on a budget so reuse what you can, got that!?"

With a burst of cheers the group disperses to fix the damage.

You feel a shiver up your spine, and get an even worse feeling about this. But all the same you board the large military bus, a prickly feeling in your gut as you're driven away to pick up the others.

* * *

 **Hey! I've been seeing a lot of SYOC and felt like trying it out. I have the character sheet on my bio so just copy paste that into a PM (only in pm, not in reviews) and send it! I'll be accepting 14 applications. Also It's NOT first come first served, so you don't have to rush (I'll wait 2 or 3 days)! and one more thing I'll be choosing one of the submitted characters to be the protagonist, so if you really want that or really don't, be sure to put it on the character sheet!**

 **This is my first time so I hope I can live up to yours and my own expectations!**


	2. Characters

**small update To introduce everyone briefly and to not violate some finicky** **rules**

* * *

There wasn't much to do on the bus, so to pass the time I reread through the file, flipping to the front where it detailed the members attending. I was a little concerned that it only had names and no pictures, how am I to tell who the names belonged to?

 _ **Attending member's**_

 **1 Masayuki Hisakawa**

 **2 Yukihiro Yamika**

 **3 Akita Nishihara**

 **4 Haruna takahashi**

 **5 Veliah Kazeto**

 **6 Grant Kingsley**

 **7 Yoshiki Kaiza**

 **8 Alan Wikly**

 **9 Sanyu Mochida**

 **10 Yuzuru Taoka**

 **11 Kenta Yuuta**

 **12 James Guzman**

 **13 Evan Halen**

 **14 Danny Walker**

 **15 Kojiro Ryuhisa**

 _Sanyu Mochida,_ it was a little weird seeing my name printed out, layered between 14 other's I've never met.

Soon the bus slowed to a stop outside a small building, one person getting on and setting themselves in the front, away from me in the back. Thumping my head on the window I looked outside again, letting my mind wander. 15 people is a good amount, I guess.

* * *

 **Yay! Everyone is here! My goal for updates is _at least_ once a month! Also, if I do something you don't like to your character (other then killing them) just review or PM me and I will do my best to fix it! I've also renamed the chapters to be more dangan ronpa like!**


	3. Chapter 1: introductions!

I looked out the window vaguely focused on my reflection, the dark bags under my eyes looking as bad as always, especially with my red eyes. I blow a few strands of hair out of my face, my messy bun not doing much. It's too cold in the bus so I pull my gray jacket closer, ripped leather jeans don't do much in the cold.

"You're Sanyu Mochida, right?" I look up at the sound of my name, surprised to see the speaker facing the other way, talking to someone else. I assume he is looking for me, but I'm not sure, considering the one he's talking to is a guy with beach tan skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and a strong looking body, the farthest image from me as you can get, so I go back to looking out the window.

"No, my name is James Guzman," The guy mistaken for me replied.

"What? O-oh I'm sorry, I'm trying to learn everyone's name so I can assign jobs better," The guy gave an awkward smile, writing something on a notepad, "My name Is Grant Kingsmen."

"Assign jobs? Are you leading this project?" A girl with dark forest green hair in a loose ponytail asked, her eyes a golden yellow.

"Yes that's right, nice to meet you umm," Grant opened the notepad in his hand, "Yukihiro-?"

"Veliah Kazeto" She corrected, before he could finish.

"Ah I'm sorry!" Grant apologized, then turned to the others on the bus.

I watched as he got everyone's name wrong, apologizing right after. My attention diverted when I feel someone sit next to me, it was a fit man with shaggy shoulder length brown hair. When he turned to look at me the first thing that caught my attention is his different colored eyes, the left a teal, and the other, red. I broke eye contact quickly and looked him over, he wore a dark green shirt with a black leather vest, blue jeans, and bandages wrapped around his forearms.

"Hey there, I'm Kenta Yuuta," He said, "who are you?"

"I'm Sanyu Mochida..." I said, trailing off.

"So, Sanyu, have you been to Hope's Peak?" Kenta questioned, a warm smile on his face, "I was the Super Highschool Level Stuntman."

"I haven't been to Hope's Peak before," I said slowly, "I declined my invitation."

Kenta eyes lit up at that, his smile a little less warm, "Really? You should have accepted, it could have been fun! it's a shame you didn't, we could have hung out."

"Yeah I guess," It felt awkward, and I didn't want to talk about myself, so when the bus slowed to a stop and Grant yelled for us to get off, I was relieved.

* * *

Despite never being there, Hope's Peak felt like meeting an old friend, an old decrepit, beaten down, friend. I sighed at the sight of it, then turned my attention back to the group, listening to Grant give the mission briefing.

"Hello everyone! I am Grant Kingsmen, just call me Grant, and I am the leader of this project. With the recent increase of 'despair' terrorism and the downfall of Towa City, many are desperate for a safe place to live again, so our goal is to rebuild Hope's Peak into a safe house," Grant paused for a second, thinking something over, "Now I know some of you are hesitant at doing this because of the mutual killing game, but there is no reason to worry, we are older and more experienced then a bunch of teenagers, plus we have been through too much to simply have it erased, and all of you have had a background checks so we know everything that could go wrong."

I noticed a few stiffen at the background check comment, myself included, and apparently Grant did to.

"D-don't worry, we all have all been through a lot, so there will be no judgement here, and you may make some lifelong friends doing this!" He gave a thumbs up, "So right now I want everyone to go introduce yourself to as many people you can in the next hour, and I will set everything up," Grant then jogged off back into the bus.

Left to ourselves, some shuffling awkwardly, and others striking up conversations. Not knowing what else to do I turned to the girl next to me recognizing her from the bus, I think it was Veliah, "You're Veliah right?" I asked, getting a better look at her I notice the two brown feathers behind her ear, and the x shaped ornament pinned in her hair. Her dress was a nice blue with strap sleeves and purple cloth wrapped around the waist. She also wore a cool black hooded cape, with stockings and black boots.

She focused her attention on me, "Yes, that is me."

Unsure what do next I introduced myself, "I'm Sanyu Mochida."

"Is that it? I'm Veliah Kazeto, the Super Highschool Level Archer," She looked me up and down, "were you a student of Hope's Peak? I heard people mostly from here took this job."

I didn't like talking about Hope's Peak so much, so before she could ask more I went off to talk to others, next I found myself introduced to an older man.

"Yoshiki Kaiza, former Super Highschool Level Video Game Designer," He said seriously, he had red shoulder-length hair, yellow eyes, and he was tall with a medium build, surprisingly he wore a blue suit with a white dress shirt, red tie, and black dress shoes, after that I began to travel around introducing myself to everyone.

I went to a man with interestingly ruffled turquoise hair, that sticks out like two horns. His eyelids are pitched dark, as if he didn't get any sleep, but who am I to judge when I'm the same? Although it was still a shocking contrast to his fiery red eyes, redder than mine. Actually now that I look closely, they have an insignia of some kind in them. He also has chain-like belts that looked dangerous. He wore a black fedora with a gray suit. I noticed a badge with the Hope's Peak insignia on it, the suit also possessed a red tie, to finish off, he wore yellow dress shoes and gloves, quite the match with the rest. I went to say hello and got a sigh of annoyance in return.

"Alan Wikly, former Reserve Course Student," He says, walking away. A reserve course student, you don't see them much anymore, much less around Hope's Peak, I wonder why he took this job?

I was then surprised by someone introducing themselves to me first, "Nice to make your acquaintance, I am Yukihiro Yamika, former Super Highschool Level Maid," I turn to see a woman with long chocolate brown hair reaching her wrists, and green eyes. Yukihiro is slender, her long arms, legs, and oval face would give you an impression that she's a very serious person, she also had a pale skintone. She's wearing a long black dress with a white apron, gray stockings and black flats, a very maid-like appearance.

"Have you noticed that every one of us introduced ourselves by saying our names and Super Highschool Level talent?" Yukihiro asked, waiting for my answer.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," It was pretty weird, but who am I to judge, "Well I'm Sanyu Mochida."

"Sanyu Mochida-sama," Yukihiro said happily, then bid goodbye to talk to others.

I saw someone faintly familiar with blonde hair, partially covered by a black fedora, in a black sweater that was unzipped to show a red shirt. His Black jogger pants held up by a belt with black socks and sneakers. I finally recognize him as the guy who was mistaken for me on the bus, "you're James Guzman, I'm Sanyu Mochida," James stared at me for a second in confusion, then seemed to recognize my name as well.

"Oh, you're the guy who Grant was looking for, did you ever tell him who you are?" He asked, "and yeah I'm James Guzman, Super Highschool Level Kickboxer."

"Oh no, not yet, but I will," I won't really, "see you later," I waved goodbye and went off to someone else.

I notice someone finishing their conversation and looking around afterwards, he had long brown hair, for some reason it reminded me of the Beatles? I decided to talk to him next.

"Hello, I'm Sanyu Mochida," I said. Looking at him closer now I see he is shorter then me, not small or thin, but athletic, looking up at me with calm green eyes. A scar below his left eye, but still pretty cool in a way.

"Oh, hello I'm Danny Walker, Super Highschool Level Magician," he replied softly, pushing his round glasses up. He really had a magic look going, with a black hat, blue striped scarf, and black gloves. He shuffled a bit shyly, not looking me in the eyes, I decided I've bothered him enough.

"Well it's nice to meet you, see you soon," I said waving goodbye, only then to bump into someone.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?" A loud angry voice snapped at me, I orient myself to look at a tiny man, his purple eyes glaring. His hair was dyed blond, the black roots showing, he looked young, younger than everyone here. He wore a black vest over a white button up with a black tie, black gloves, and black pants.

"O-oh well I'm Sanyu Mochida?" It came out like a question.

"Ha-ha-ha. Very funny," and he stormed off, it was actually quite scary and I didn't even get his title.

I looked around at everyone here, fourteen, a pretty good number of people for this. I noticed a few people drifting away from the groups, and felt myself doing the same. Somehow or another I started thinking of talking to them too, I want to think it was because I want this meet and greet over with. So I walked up behind the guy closest to me, he was taller then me, with spiky light red hair, he is fit looking from what I can tell, kinda like a runner.

"Hey, I'm Sanyu Mochida," He turned to look at me, giving me a better look at him. His eyes were orange, and had a scar downwards on the right eye, and bandages on his right arm to. He wears a black army jacket with shiny gold buttons. It was unbuttoned so I could see a black dress shirt underneath, he had on black jeans and black high top converse. On his back was a guitar case and a messenger bag, it also seemed that I interrupted him eating, as he hastily swallowed.

"Greetings, I'm Masayuki Hisakawa, Super Highschool Level Assassin, but you shall address me as M," M said, his voice leaving no room to disobey it.

M? Well if that's what he wants, why not? "Ok, M," his face was stoic, so I couldn't tell if he was happy or not that I went with the name. I decided to leave him be, M looked like he was itching to get back to what he was eating.

There were a few people left that I hadn't talked to, so I continued with my effective strategy of who's nearest. It was a tan women with round emerald-green eyes, and bushy arched eyebrows, complemented by a sharp jawline, she had plump lips and a up turned nose, the jet black wavy hair long enough to cover half the back. She's wearing a classic aviator outfit, completed by a couple of fancy badges, she has a white high neck crop top and military style dark olive colored pants, tucked in to black laced up boots. I found my attention caught on her vibrant green crystal necklace, it was pretty cool.

"Hey, I'm Sanyu Mochida, that's a really cool necklace," I said, pointing at it. She stared at me, her dark aviator sunglasses hiding her eyes now.

"...thanks, I got it from a good friend," She held fondness in her voice, and seemed to be lost in thought, "Akira Nishihara, Super Highschool Level Pilot."

"A pilot? Is that what all those badges are form?" I ask, actually pretty curious.

"Not all of them," she replied, Akira didn't say anything else so I said goodbye and went on down my imaginary line. That led onto a tall, light-skinned male, with blue eyes and black hair that almost covered the left one, and some chin stubble. His clothes were a black blazer, green shirt, white tie, black pants, and black boots.

"Hey, I'm Sanyu Mochida," My introductions are starting to sound quite repetitive, maybe I'll change it up on the next guy.

"Kojiro Ryuhisa, Super Highschool Level Artist," Kojiro said, clearing his throat, "nice to meet you."

"You too," I replied and we parted ways.

Next up was a girl with a healthy body posture and slim build. She has a regular well-toned peach-pink skin color. Her eyes were the color of silver, her navy-blue hair had highlights and black streaks. Her hairstyle is a long, waist-length wavy hairstyle with straight bangs that's tucked onto the sides with a hair clip. For her clothes she wears a typical elbow-long-sleeved sailor girl uniform, but it is white with a dark brown ribbon along with a dark brown knee-length skirt. However, and if I'm looking right, I think I see a sports uniform underneath.

"Hello, nice to meet you," I said, "I'm Sanyu Mochida."

"Haruna Takahashi, Super Highschool Level Soccer Player" She said, looking me over, "you're quite the pip-squeak aren't you."

"Excuse me?" I was taken aback, I mean I am very skinny, unhealthy so, but I'm no pip-squeak, I'm 5'8 for goodness sake!

"You've got no meat on those bones," she heckled, then just left.

I don't know if she was making fun of me or not, but I sure didn't like it. I looked around and was kinda shocked to see that I've already talked to everyone but one, the last person was a guy with long brown hair to his shoulder, brown eyes and wearing glasses. He has on a jacket and blue pants, underneath a black shirt, gray tie and black shoes.

"Hey," I said, he looked at me for a second before responding.

"Hello," and that was all he said, I even waited to see if that was really it.

"I'm Sanyu Mochida," I said, and he didn't say anything back, just still staring, "um I-i was supposed to be the Super Highschool Level Race Car Driver," I had hoped that would prompt him to say his name, but no, "and you are?"

"I'm Evan Halen, Super Highschool Level Lawyer," he replied, this guy is pretty sparse on words, but I didn't feel like doing this much longer so I left Evan, and stood off on my own. I didn't have to wait long before Grant fumbled back out, holding a stack of notebooks and a large bag.

"Ok everyone, we are going to go in and scout the building, everyone take a communicator and notebook, if you come across any problems please radio in, and if you see areas that look unsafe or in need a lot of work, record it in the notebook so we can pinpoint where to start!" Grant sounded excited, and happily handed everyone their items, "I hope all of you have done your introductions, because for the next three months you will have to rely only on each other."

After a few more rules and guidelines we got into a group and followed Grant inside. I migrated slowly to the back of the line, It was dark so the flashlights we were given were a big help, and the place smelled old and moldy.

"This place is gross," I turn to see the scary tiny guy from earlier, "I can't believe it's the same place."

"Yeah, I mean this is Hope's Peak, the best of the best," I said offhandedly, it's starting to sink in now, how jarring it is to see a once magnificent place turned to ruin.

"Yuzuru Taoka," he had said it so suddenly I didn't even think it was him, "Yuzuru Taoka, Super Highschool Level Debate Team Member."

I looked at Yuzuru, maybe he wasn't so bad, "nice to meet you Yuzuru-," suddenly a crash came from behind us, we both whipped around to see the vault doors locking shut.

"T-that scared me," I awkwardly laughed.

"Didn't scare me, you big baby," he retaliated.

We continued in silence after that, till we came to a stop in a area where the lights were on.

"That's strange, I thought the power was out?" Grant questioned reaching for his radio, "no one's picking up," worry tinted his voice.

"I thought this place was supposed to be crumbling, these walls look brand new!" I turned to see Alan observing a wall, and he was right the walls do look new.

"Maybe they sent others in before us? To freshen it up?" Danny questioned looking at Grant for reassurance, he got a poorly concealed worried smile in return.

"The paint is still wet," Evan announced, "whoever it was is still here."

"That's right!" A high pitched shrill voice answered, the lights shutting off.

"Wh-who are you?" Grant yelled as all hell broke loose.

"Why, you know who I am, Upupupupuu!" It laughed its signature stupid laugh.

In the chaos I heard a impact next to me and a sharp intake of breath, before I knew it, a punch sent me to the ground as well. I groped for my flashlight, flicking it on to identify my attacker. It was a towering person, dressed in regular everyday clothes, except their face was hidden by a monochrome bear head with a glowing red eye. That was the last thing I saw before I was knocked unconscious.

* * *

 **Hello everybody, here's chapter 1! If you don't like something I've done to your character then please PM and I will try and fix it next chapter! I'm actually pretty hyped for this, I've already outlined some of the trails, Lol! And please review! it would make me bear-y happy! Upupupupupu**

 **Beta notes: hi I'm the beta reader u won't believe how much editing i get to do with this eheheh**


	4. Chapter 1: First motive!

I woke up disoriented and groggy, to the sound of a door handle jiggling. It wasn't until I got out of the bed I was laying in that I noticed where I was, it was the old Hope's Peak dorms, and that's when the panic set in.

"Oh my god, oh my god," I began pacing around the small room, trying to rationalize what's going on, "maybe I just fell and got hurt so they put me here and everything is fi-" I was cut off by the jiggling door handle again. I made my way slowly to the door, opening it to be greeted by nothing but the sound still persisting, I walked around the room until I figured out that the noise was coming from the bathroom.

"Um... hello?" This was pretty freaky, not only am I possibly locked in Hope's Peak, but there might be someone in the room with me. Shakily I turned the handle only to find that the door won't open, "you've got to unlock it?"

"There is no lock, pick up the door, then open it," I leapt back when the person on the other side replied.

"Ok?" I did what they said, the door swinging open to reveal a guy in a monokuma head. At the sight of him, all of what had happened came rushing back, "You! You're keeping us here, why?!"

"Relax buddy, I'm not the only one keeping you here," he said it like it was no big deal.

"Not the only one?" I wondered, "Who are you?"

"I'm a mono-teacher," he said it like it explained everything. Well it explains a little, that this guy is definitely a despair and working for monokuma.

"Where is everyone else?"

"They are in their rooms, but they can't leave till the morning bell goes off," he said.

"Okay," so they are still alive, that is good, "can I leave?"

"No."

"Okay," this was kinda weird, standing imprisoned in a bedroom by a random guy in a bear head, "So... what do I call you?"

"Mono teacher no. 55" the monokuma head said.

Did he say 55? Does that means there's at least 54 others running around!? That may be a problem. I decided to make the best of my little one-on-one moment here and ask some more questions, and hopefully get some answers, "Why am I here?"

"I don't know... to spread despair? I mean that's why I'm here!" 55 gave a little laugh.

"Are you a mastermind or something?" I asked, feeling sick at the thought, "I-is this another killing game?"

"I don't know, I'm merely here to help out, answer questions, be mysterious," he listed, "and don't worry, all of your questions will be answered at the assembly."

An assembly? That doesn't sound good. After that conversation I just shuffled around looking at the walls and bed, when the bell finally sounded. I left as soon as I could going to the cafeteria first, on my way there I meet Kenta.

"Hey, was there a guy in a monokuma head in your bathroom?" I asked, it was probably the weirdest thing I'd ever said.

"Nope, mine was standing over my bed," he answered.

"That's creepy," actually that's super creepy.

"Hey!" I turn to see Haruna running towards, "Wait for me!" At the command me and Kenta waited until she stopped next to us.

"Okay, Go!" Haruna yelled and took off running again.

"Is she trying to race us?" I asked, Kenta shrugging in response. Then we continued on into the cafeteria, to see Haruna looking angry.

"When people go through the trouble of making a fair start, and even saying "GO," it usually means they want to race," she said accusingly, "we are doing this again."

"I'll skip," I said, I'm still out of it from the terrifying wake up call. Haruna shot me a glare, ready to protest.

"I'll do it," Kenta said, that made Haruna light up in a smug way.

I looked at him suspiciously, "Why? Do you like running?"

"Why so distrustful," Kenta laughed, "and no, actually I hate running."

"Oh so you think you can win, huh?" she pointed her finger at Kenta, "You've got another thin- Go!" At the sudden yell, she took off around the cafeteria, Kenta fallowing with a weird expression.

I just sat down and waited, the others had to be waking up soon. As soon as I thought that the doors opened revealing another group of three, it was Yukihiro, Evan, and M.

"Hey over here!" I called them over, they all took a seat near me, "Did you all have Monokuma-head-people in your room?"

"I did," came M's blunt reply, "it refused to answer my questions."

"Mine left as soon as I woke up," Yukihiro told, "do we know why they were there?"

"Most likely to monitor us, but I must admit I'm curious of their overall purpose," Evan said.

"I got mine to tell me a few things," I said, "he said he was Mono-teacher 55, and that all my questions would be answered at the assembly."

"Mono-teacher 55?" I turn to see Veliah standing behind me, "And what's this about an assembly?"

"I don't really know, but I think it will be soon, or else why even tell me about it," I said as she took a seat.

"55 was it? Did he say why we are here?" Evan asked.

"Not really, but he said something about spreading despair," I mentioned, and was met by yet another surprised visitor.

"Spread despair?!" Came the shocked yell of Alan, and that alerted the rest just coming in as well.

"What, whose spreading despair?!" Grant ran over to us, "We don't need to do that, let's calm down."

"I didn't mean us, I was repeating what the Monokuma-head said," I explained, but it didn't seem to calm Grant down.

"My Monokuma-head said that too," James said, joining us at the table.

"Did they mention why we were here?" I asked, James shook his head no.

"You don't think the reason we are here is because of another killing game?" Yoshiki's question sent a few of us reeling.

"No way, that's impossible," came Haruna's loud shriek, "Junko Enoshima is dead!"

"Are we sure of that?" Kenta said, "Plus I've heard there's been a bunch of knock off killing games that have taken place after original one."

"So you're saying that a Junko sympathiser is making another killing game, out of fan adoration," Akira summarized.

"We don't know that either, it could be entirely unrelated," Veliah added.

We all sat in silence for a bit mulling over the thought. When suddenly the cafeteria doors burst open and Yuzuru, Danny, and Kojiro were manhandled in by Monokuma-heads.

"Hey, jackasses a bit of advice, telling someone what's going on does wonders for cooperation," came Yuzuru's loud voice, as he readied himself to lunge at the monokuma heads, only to be held back by Danny and Kojiro.

"Calm down or you'll get yourself killed, don't be a fucking idiot," Kojiro fired back, letting out a laugh, that turned all of Yuzuru's anger on him.

"Are you telling me what to do?!" Yuzuru yelled, trying to kick his way out of the others grip. Danny let out a startled yell when a flying fist barely missed his face, giving Yuzuru a chance to escape. It was a brawl waiting to happen, and everyone knew it, but no one moved. Thankfully the fight was forgotten when the school bell rang and called us all to the gym.

"Are you ok?" I asked Danny, who then looked confused, "from getting hit?"

"Oh! it missed, it only startled me," he explained.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" I asked, I didn't want to bring something up if it's better left alone.

"Well I don't know everything, but I was forced out of my room by the Monokuma guys, so I think that happened to the others as well," he looked up, placing a finger on his chin, "I think Yuzuru didn't take that to well and started to fight them, that's around when I came in. Then the Monokuma head stopped him and said that harming faculty is against school rules, but he still went to fight them. That's when Kojiro came in, and I got him to hold Yuzuru back, then you saw the rest."

"Wow, sounds like a lot happened, I'm glad everyone's ok," I said. Faculty? Against School rules? This doesn't sound too good, in fact it sounds terrifyingly familiar, "Did you see where Yuzuru and Kojiro went?" I need their sides too, to see if the school rules comment is true.

"Yeah they're up ahead," Danny said pointing them out, Saying my thanks I went up to them.

"Hey Kojiro, can I ask you something?" He turned to me, still looking angry from before.

"Sure," Kojiro said after clearing his voice, seemingly calmer after that.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't really know, I just came out in time for Danny to yell for me to stop Yuzuru," Kojiro shrugged, "that's about it."

It didn't help much, and I can't go to Yuzuru, he looks ready to bite everyone's head off. I decided to just go on ahead and see what was going on in the gym. I was with the stragglers so a few of us were already there. I went up to Yoshiki who was near the door.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked.

"No, but a few of those Monokuma people have run across the stage," Yoshiki paused, "I saw you were talking to Danny and Kojiro, did you find out what caused the fight?"

"Yeah, apparently the Monokuma heads forced them out of their rooms so Yuzuru tried fighting them," I explained.

"What was wrong with that? Why did they stop him?" He asked.

"Apparently the Monokuma head said that it was against school rules to harm faculty," after I said that, Yoshiki seemed to think it over.

"Perhaps we really are in a killing game," he said it off handily, but it still held a serious tone.

"Don't say that," we turned around to see Grant talking to us, "if you say something enough it becomes true, so stop saying that."

"Ahem! Please quiet down!" Everyone in the room turned to the stage where a podium stood, behind it a Monokuma head was speaking, "Now, I bet you're wondering why you're here, well I'm here to tell you!" There was a loud muddled sound of everyone talking at once.

"Then tell us already!" Haruna yelled.

"Rude, anyways I'm Mono-Teacher 21, I'm here on behalf of the headmaster, who can't make it right now, don't worry you will find out why in the second motive! As a few of you have guessed, you are indeed in a killing game!" We all already had our suspicions, but having it confirmed was still terrifying, "Now I currently can't tell you why, because even I don't know! But I do know that you all will kill each other and spread despair! Hahahaha!" the Mono teacher almost fell over with his cackling.

"No we won't! We aren't a bunch of teenagers, or have had our minds erased," I can tell Grant said that, because it came from right behind me, "some stupid motive won't break us!" His little proclamation got a few cheers.

"Oh we know that, so we've upped the difficulty, no gentle, kind, or mean settings this round! We've decided to tap into those basic human necessities, and take one away! But don't worry folks not all the surprises have been spoiled!" When Monoteacher 21 said that, there were gasps and shouts of disagreement.

"Which one have you taken away?" I heard Evan ask, "Can you tell us of the other surprises?"

"All the fun is in you finding out, so after this you can check. But before I leave I must tell you that since we don't have the convenience of PDA's we must make do with a bulletin board, which is located at the back of the gym and in the cafeteria, if you have any further questions seek out the Monoteachers in the classrooms," after the last second explanation, the monokuma teacher walked off stage and left.

"We aren't going to do any good just standing here, let's just check the bulletin board," Alan said, making his way to it. I decided to follow and look at it as well, while everybody else just left.

 **The bulletin board**

 **1\. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.**

 **2\. "Night time" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**

 **3\. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly.**

 **4\. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.**

 **5\. Violence against headmaster, and teachers is strictly prohibited.**

 **6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.**

 **7\. Until further notice all rooms will lock at certain times, the times will be posted on the doors to the rooms.**

 **8\. More rules may be added if necessary.**

"Everything looks the same except 7," I said, "what doors do you think they will lock?" Is it related to the surprises that Monoteacher talked about?

"Maybe it has something to do with the surprises that Mono teacher mentioned?" Alan's guess was as good as mine.

"I'm just going to go to bed," I said, this killing game nonsense is wearing me out. So I left the gym and made my way to my room, only to find a note on the door. Taking it down I read it

' **DORMS ARE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE'**

What's that supposed to mean, like I'm not allowed in? my thoughts were cut short by panic when the handle wouldn't budge. I even tried pushing harder, in a state of disbelief I then tried all the dorm rooms, all locked. Wait where are we supposed to sleep, is this the motive?!

"Hey Sanyu is something wrong?" I look to see James walking towards me.

"The dorm rooms are locked," I told him, James looked puzzled, "we can't sleep."

"So?" James said.

"We can only sleep in the dorm rooms, no where else," I could feel myself getting worked up, "this is the motive, sleep deprivation!"

"I totally forgot you weren't there," James suddenly exclaimed, "I was sent to get you, we found a chart in the cafeteria about that."

"Oh," that was anticlimactic, and I felt a little embarrassed for learning everything so late.

"Hey don't worry, at least you've proved our suspicions," James clapped me on the back, the action sent me tumbling, "dude, you're super light."

I grumbled, and then went with James to the cafeteria, "What are you all doing?" I asked, watching them huddle around a large board.

"Apparently there are door timers," Yukihiro sighed, "they have a time chart posted here."

Interested, I squeezed my way to a better view.

 **Floor 1:School Grounds**

 **1\. Gymnasium. 7am-10pm**

 **2\. Trophy Room. Open**

 **3\. Restrooms. Open**

 **4\. Stairwell to Floor 2. Closed**

 **5\. Infirmary. 5pm-10pm**

 **6\. Student Store. 10pm-10am**

 **7\. Entrance Hall. Open**

 **8\. Media Center. 3pm-5pm**

 **9\. Floor 1 Classrooms. Open**

 **10\. Passage to Floor 1 Dorms. Open**

 **11\. Elevator to Trial Room. To be announced**

 **Floor 1: Dormitory**

 **1\. Sauna. 10pm-7am**

 **2\. Public Bath. 7am-2pm, 3pm-10pm**

 **3\. Laundry Room. Open**

 **4\. Passage to Floor 1 School Grounds. Open**

 **5\. Cafeteria. 10am-10pm**

 **6\. Kitchen. Open**

 **7\. Storage Room. 4pm-10pm**

 **8\. Stairwell to Floor 2. Closed**

 **9\. Restrooms. Open**

 **10\. Trash Incinerator. 8pm-5am**

 **11\. Student Dorm. Closed**

"What the hell, this is so fucking confusing," Yuzuru yelled, "I mean, I don't even know what time is it now!"

"Now that you mention it I haven't seen any clocks," Akira's observation caused a murmur.

"We have too many questions, to simply figure it out through observation," Veliah said, "didn't that monokuma 21 mention that the classrooms had Monokuma teachers?"

"The classrooms will stay open, so we should ask them for help," Evan said, "let's ask about the 'surprises' we haven't figured out."

With that we all made our way to the classrooms.

When we opened the door we were greeted by a shout.

"Hello students! It's me, Monoteacher 55, I'm here to answer any questions you may have," I was a little shocked to see the Monokuma head from my room here, but it did make sense, "Sanyu my star pupil, good to see you."

"He's the Monokuma head that was in my room," I explained before anyone got the wrong idea.

"We have no time for nonsense, 55, you will answer all of our questions," M demanded.

"Yeah, yeah get on with it," 55 flopped into a rolling chair, with that the rapid fire question round started.

"Is the motive for the first case sleep deprivation?"

"Yes."

"Why are there no clocks?"

"So all hours would blur together, also there will be no morning & night announcements."

"What is the purpose of door timers?

"Is confusing, and we want that."

"Some of my stuff is missing, where is it?"

"All personal belongings are in the storage room."

"What happens if we fall asleep?"

"Instant death."

"Um... oh! What happens if we stay in a room when it locks?"

"You just get locked in, can't leave," 55 spins in his chair, "okay one more question then you have to leave."

"How long will this motive last?"

"Until one of you is dead," abruptly 55 stood up and started pushing us out, "okay, great class, first block's over, it's lunch, I don't care, get out."

Outside of the classroom we just stood there, looking at each other.

"What now?" I asked.

* * *

 **I'm screaming, you guys made me so happy with those reviews! Thank you, it really did hype me up! I hope you all enjoyed the Monoteachers, I was a little iffy on them, But went with them in the end! OMG I didn't even notice some of the names were spelled wrong! I'm writing on my iPad so auto correct doesn't like certain names, I'm sorry!**

 **Beta notes: OK beta reader here again and guys….. to all you writers/would-be writers please please please do not EVER use "till" when meaning "until" till does NOT mean the same thing as 'til, till means like farming and stuff, 'til is the shortened version of until which should really only be typed out like that if the character is speaking/thinking and has a lisp/accent… please don't use 'til/till and make it easy for your beta readers with until**


	5. Chapter 1: free time event?

"First and foremost we should set up a base," Yoshiki said, gaining everybody's attention, "since we can't go to our rooms, it's best if we all stay together."

"I think we should stay in the cafeteria, so when we get tired we can just eat," Akira reasoned.

"That makes sense, who's for going to the cafeteria?" I asked, there were nods of yes, and hands slowly going up in support.

"Before we go to the cafeteria, I want to check out the storage room," Alan said, walking off.

"Yes, I will join you," M said, joining Alan.

"Yeah, our stuff is there, right?" Yukihiro remembered, "Before we head to the cafeteria, we should do an inventory check."

With that plan in mind, we went to the storage room. We found it opened, Alan and M already inside.

"Why did they take our stuff anyway?" Vehila wondered, "I mean none of us had anything worth taking."

"I can see what you mean, should we do a weapons check?" Akira said.

"There's no need, I have nothing suspicious," M assured.

"Yeah a hidden sniper rifle isn't suspicious," Yuzuru said sarcastically, pulling out a gun from M's guitar case, "and I'm sure the Super High School Level Assassin is super trustworthy."

"It's rude to rummage through others' stuff!" Yukihiro scolded, "But he does have a point, let's do a rundown of everything in here," so everyone set off, grabbing boxes and seeing what we have. I wandered around looking at the high shelves, randomly I picked a box up. When I looked inside I found it full of intricate silver scissors, that's pretty dangerous, one of these guys could easily kill someone.

"Hey I found those notebooks Grant gave us," Haruna yelled dropping a large stack of books to the floor. Distracted, I put my scissor box down on the lowest shelf, then pushing it out of sight, and walked over to them.

"That's good, we can use those," Kojiro assessed, picking one of them up, "we could take a inventory with this, to keep track of everything."

"It's a good idea, but who's going to do it," Grant said.

"Well I for one, want my chains back," Alan protested, going over to pick them up. The idea of those chains being anywhere near our soon to be sleep deprived states put me on edge.

"I don't think you should, it looks really dangerous," I said, "it could easily be a weapon."

"Yeah, so?" Alan said incredulously to me, "But it's not like I'll use it, not unless you give me a reason," my shoulders wound up with tension as the thoughts of being brutally murdered flooded my mind.

Quickly Yukihiro cut in, "If we are doing a inventory count, we can have two or three people do it, any volunteers?"

"Sanyu said he'd do it," Kenta informed, at my glare Kenta smiled and shrugged, but after thinking it over I wasn't angry, actually the opposite, because everyone now knows who's doing inventory, so no one will try and kill me. I looked around, if I'm going down then I'm not going down alone

"Oh really!" I said it loud and exaggerated, "Danny you want to do it too?" I wasn't singling Danny out, he was just the one I thought of first. Danny look shocked at being called out, then resigned.

"Ok, one more person," Yoshiki said, his eyes scanning the room, "if no one volunteers, I will randomly pick," he threatened, a few shuffled and looked away, either in fear or guilt, "Yuzuru."

"What! No!" Yuzuru shouted panicked, then grumbled, "fine, but I'll miscount and like, I don't know, do stuff, to spite you," Yuzuru tried to threaten only to trail off when Yoshiki stared him down, his eyes unwavering.

"Let's do the inventory count after breakfast, or is it lunch?" Kojiro suggested, and everyone agreed. Heading down to the cafeteria we luckily found it open, so it must be between 10 am and 10 pm, still quite the margin. Everyone sat down randomly, not yet comfortable with each other enough to reserve seats, I managed to land between Akira and M. They had both gotten their food, Akira eating quietly, M munching away at a platter of sandwiches. I picked at my food, before resigning to the fact I had nothing better to do.

"I'm going to go start counting," I informed the room, a few acknowledged me. Before I could make it out the door I was stopped by a yell from James.

"You need to sign out," he told me, gesturing to a notebook on the table.

"What?" I ask, then getting the picture I take the offered pencil and signed out under the designated columns.

 _Sign out - destination - sign in_

 _Sanyu Mochida - storage room -_

"So who made the sign in sheet?" I asked James.

"Don't know, I heard it's so we know if someone's been locked in a room," he said through a mouthful of cereal, "also just to keep track of things."

"Well, just tell Danny and Yuzuru I've already started," I waved off, going to the storage room when I arrived I read the sign on the door; _Storage Room: Open 4pm-10pm._ Once inside I began to busy myself by opening a box and documenting the contents in the Future Foundation provided notebook. The first box I opened was full of gambling supplies? Like a whole roulette set was packed away neatly, bypassing that I reached for a deck of cards that caught my eye, and pocketed them with the intention of playing solitaire later. I worked in peaceful quite, absorbed enough to not notice Yuzuru and Danny join in my efforts.

* * *

 **Day 1?**

"Well I haven't found coffee yet," Yuzuru said, laying on the floor.

"That's because you're not helping," I said, kicking lightly at Yuzuru's feet to get him into moving, eventually my tactic worked. Because of his height, Yuzuru had to pull a stool to the shelves to reach the boxes, and began to lazily hand boxes down to Danny, who was doing most of the counting. Eventually one of the boxes produced coffee, but not before making us go through 4 others filled with earl gray tea, and protein shakes.

"Well you two can finish the innovatory count," Yuzuru said climbing off a stool, "I'm going to get something to eat," Yuzuru left the room, leaving us with the dubious task.

"Wow, he just left us," I can't believe he did that, "we should leave to, that'd show him-" I was surprised when I heard a click, but I had no idea what it meant. Not until I jiggled the handle, and found it wouldn't open, "umm, Danny."

"Yeah?" He asked looking up from his coffee counting duty.

"I think we've just been locked in," I said it slowly, as not to alarm him, it didn't work.

"What!" Danny yelled running over to the door, and jiggling the handle, "we're trapped!" he said with drama.

"It's fine, I'm sure the others will come for us," I tried to assure.

"And do what? They can't get us out," Danny flopped on to the ground, "it's going to be forever."

"Well we have a lot of stuff in here to keep us occupied," I picked up a spool of yarn, "we can make something out of this," Danny looked at me with uncertainty.

"What could we do with that? Make friendship bracelets?" I think Danny meant it as a joke, but it actually sounded like a ok idea.

"Yeah if you want?" I said pulling more yarn out.

"You're serious?" he said uncertainly.

"Yeah, it'll pass the time quickly and keep us busy from falling asleep," I explained, "and there's paper and all sorts of drawing utensils, so we could do that too" I could see Danny reluctantly come to the ideal.

"Fine," he exasperated, grabbing one of the spools. For a long time we worked in silence, switching between mediums, it was peaceful for a long time, but eventually it grew stifling.

"So how are you doing," I asked, trying to be casual.

"I'm doing good," Danny said, but then looked like he wanted to say something else but stopped.

"Ok," ok, that didn't work, new conversation topic, "what's your..." I looked around the room, "what uhh... hobbies do you enjoy?"

"I like magic," Danny replied.

"That's makes sense," I nodded, "what's your favorite kind?"

"I enjoy performing card tricks," he said. Card tricks? Danny would probably enjoy the sleek deck of cards I found. Fishing it out of my pocket I held it out to him.

"Here, you can have these," I said.

"Really for me?" Danny took the cards, shuffling them in a complicated way, "thanks," Danny looked like he meant it, "these are some good cards, I could do some magic with these."

"Can you show me some?" I asked, Danny turned to me, reshuffling the shiny intricate cards.

"Let's do a classic, pick a card, any card," Danny said holding them out. Excited, I grabbed one, and studied it, it was a 4 of hearts.

"I got a-" I started before being cut off.

"Wait don't tell me! It's part of the trick for me not to know, or to wow you by already knowing," Danny explained jokingly. Confused, I waited for his next instruction, "ok, now I want you to hold on to that card and don't let me see," doing what I was told, I closed my hands around it hiding it from view, "now, is this your card?" I flinched back when I suddenly saw Danny's had coming towards me, "I'm sorry, I should have told you, I'm just reaching behind your ear," he explained, then pulled his hand back holding a card, "is this your card?" I looked intently at it, 4 of hearts, "ok, now how about we check what you're holding," I looked at my closed hands, opening them to see the 4 of hearts replaced by coffee beans? How? I was sure I had the card firmly in my hands? I must have looked funny because Danny laughed, "did you really like it that much?"

"That was awesome, do another!" I was pretty hyped, "I've never seen a real magic trick before."

"You still haven't," Danny got a smug happy look to him, "this is no trick."

I let out a short laugh, stopping when I noticed Danny looking at me, "is something wrong?"

"I think that's the first time I've seen you show some emotions," Danny said, I could tell he didn't mean anything by it, but I was still got uneasy when things are about me.

"I don't show emotion?" What did Danny mean by that, of course I smile and stuff... don't I? "I never noticed," the atmosphere regained its awkwardness. I never realized how hard keeping a conversation would be, Danny seemed to notice my unease.

"I didn't mean to insult you," Danny said quickly. His explanation startled me, why was he apologizing? People have said much worse than that to me, and with conviction.

"Oh it's ok, I didn't take it as an insult," I replied, "I just don't like talking about myself."

"Still, I made you uncomfortable," Danny insisted, "if I ever do that again please tell me. I would feel terrible if someone got hurt because they didn't trust me."

"Ok, I will," not, I don't trust anyone here, not yet at least. Just because you're acting nice doesn't mean you really are, "Yeah, something stupid like that."

"You know it's kinda comfortable to really talk to someone again," Danny suddenly spoke.

"Really? Who did you talk to?" I asked, the question got Danny staring at me.

"I meant you," he replied jokingly. Danny's comment shocked me, no one has ever said they liked talking to me, it was kinda nice.

"T-thanks," I felt like throwing up, I didn't like how worked up I got over a simple comment, if he keeps this up I might actually trust him, at least a little, "talking to you is nice as well," in a bit of awkward silence we heard a click.

"The door!" Danny lept up and opened it, we were greeted by the sight of Yoshiki.

"This is where you were, next time sign the sheet before you run off," Yoshiki let out a sigh, "we need some caffeine," I got up grabbing the box with the drinks, but I stopped when I saw Danny's unfinished 'yarn mesh art piece' on the ground.

"Hey, Danny can you carry this too, I want to get something else," I asked, thankfully Danny agreed, putting my box on his. I grabbed the items for my plan, the three of us then proceeded through the halls to the cafeteria.

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long, it's just every time I looked at it I wanted to change something :/ but I'm feeling good with it now!** **Anyways, remember those free time events? I will use them to fluff up the story, and to make it look like time is passing. For the free time events I will randomly draw a name and center a part on them ;p**


	6. Chapter 1: free time event 2?

**Day 2?**

It took a bit of time to work up the courage, but I'm going to do it, now or never, "Ok, I have a plan to keep us all awake," a few heads turned tiredly to me, "Me and Danny spent a few hours doing this, and it worked for me, but I don't know about him."

"What about me?" Danny's head perked up at his name.

"You remember yesterday, we were trapped in the storage room so we had to find ways to past the time," I explained, Danny squinted then slowly nodded in understanding.

"So like last time, I say that we distract ourselves to stay awake!" I think the lack of sleep was getting to me, because I felt like running in circles in excitement.

"You know I think that idea sounds pretty good, especially since you're not saying it in your bored tone," Kenta said, his face still planted on the table.

"Bored tone?" Do I sound uninteresting to them? "Anyways, my idea is that we busy ourselves with arts and crafts," not meaning to, I accidentally slam the box on the table, sending several people shooting to attention.

"Well, I thought that maybe we could draw or paint to keep us busy, and to not fall asleep," my voice tampered out when I realized no one was listening, though some were trying to.

"Well Sanyu, I guess your idea wasn't so good after all," Kenta said smiling, his words felt like a punch in the gut. I sat down next to Danny sighing, for a bit I stayed lying on the table until I felt something cold get placed next to me, looking up I see Akira holding a shake in front of me.

"We found some ice cream in the freezer, so Yukihiro is making milkshakes," Akira said, I reached for the drink in front of me only to have Akira pull it away, "this one is mine, you need to get your own, go socialize," she said, all but kicking me out of my chair. I reluctantly listen and went into the kitchen where everyone was bustling about.

"Brain freeze!" Haruna yelled, stopping what looked like a milkshake drinking contest with James. Yukihiro let out a laugh, then continued making a shake, once finished she called me over.

"How are you doing?" She asked, handing me the drink, "Sorry your plan didn't work out," she consoled. I didn't really care about it anymore but it was nice to hear, "have you seen Yuzuru-sama anywhere? He hasn't gotten a drink yet," she said pushing another cup on me, "you should go talk to him."

"Huh? Why me?" But my complaints were stopped before they started by a hard stare from Yukihiro, "Fine, but I don't even know where he is."

"He's in the back of the cafeteria, far away from everyone," she chirped, pushing me out and pointing to him. Reluctant I go to him looking back every now and then, pleading with her not to make me deal with him and his mood swings. Yukihiro only gave a thumbs up and went back into the kitchen.

"Hey Yuzuru, you doing ok?" I asked awkwardly, but received no response, "I can understand if you don't want to talk to me, but here's this shake thing," still no response. Jeez, does he not like me or something? I push his shoulder, and got a snore, never before had a snore of all things, sent a chill up my spine. I look around eyes wide for any monokuma teachers, thankfully there were none. Quickly I shook Yuzuru awake, this made him quite angry.

"I'm trying to sleep here," he said with venom.

"You can't! You'll get killed!" I reasoned to no help. What's with this guy, does he just not care?

"So what! What does it matter?" he shouted running off and out the door, I stood there for a bit hesitant on following, but I soon decided to just let him be, or would have if Grant didn't walk out.

"I heard shouting?" He asked worried.

"Yeah Yuzuru was sleeping and just took off when I woke him," I explained, this seemed to worry Grant more.

"Then we need to find him! If left alone he could try and sleep again!" Grant ran after Yuzuru, but not before making me come with him. It took forever to find Yuzuru, we had to check every door in case he had gotten himself locked in. But ultimately we found him in the restrooms, next to the stupid little fish tank in the wall.

I wasn't sure what to say, until I noticed I was still carrying Yuzuru's milkshake, might as well gift it to him, "Yuzuru you want your shake," Grant stared at me in a disapproving way.

"Yeah," Yuzuru mumbled, I looked at Grant smugly, "now fuck off!" He shouted the second the drink was in his grip.

"Yuzuru come back with us," Grant said nicely, Yuzuru's reply was not so nice.

"Just leave him, it's obvious he wants to be alone," I said, Yuzuru agreeing.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that!" Grant struck a commanding pose, "it's my duty as leader to watch out for everyone!"

"Watch out for my fist more like it," Yuzuru grumbled. This conversation was going nowhere, but still Grant pressed on.

"If you won't come back with us, then we'll just stay here with you," Grant proclaimed.

"No," There was no way I going to stay in a closed off room with the hyperactive Afghan Hound look alike, and the emo 5 year old.

"No 'buts' about it!" He shouted, sitting down next to a shocked Yuzuru. Grant focused his attention on Yuzuru, giving me the chance to escape, I quickly ran out back to the cafeteria and into the kitchen.

"Oh, Sanyu-sama," Yukihiro greeted from her position of sitting on the floor, I stopped and took in the sight. Everyone was laying on the ground covered in a red substance, reminiscent of a horror movies bloody climax.

"What happened?" I asked bewildered, what the hell did I miss?

"Too many milkshakes, to many brain freezes," Danny said. I turn to the only three still standing untouched for the explanation.

"Yukihiro made too many milkshakes, and Haruna managed to convince a lot of us into a contest," Yoshiki replied.

"Us?" I questioned, "Did you participate too?"

Yoshiki let out a laugh, "What do you take me for?" he took a ship of his milkshake, "Of course I did, but it was M who won."

"A trained assassin knows moderation," M said sagaciously, "knows tricks to disarm without suspicion."

"What about that red stuff everywhere?" I asked as I lift up my shoes to reveal the disgusting sticky mess I stepped in.

"That is the strawberry syrup," Veliah stated.

"It looks like a bottle just burst or something," I observed, looking at the bodies on the floor.

"I think it was Alan who did it," Veliah said, "one of us wanted a strawberry shake but couldn't open the bottle, so they got Alan to open it, but it wouldn't budge."

"Yeah, but someone else had the idea of nuking it," I turn to see a strawberry mess of a man rising, "it exploded in the microwave," a swipe of the hand revealed the face of Alan.

"But if it exploded in the microwave then why is it all over the kitchen?" I asked Alan and the others, eyeing the strangely crystal clean microwave, but they were cut off by the door opening and Kenta answering for them.

"That was the first one," Kenta said, "we cleaned up the mess, then I went to get washed off, so I wasn't present for the second bomb apparently."

"The second one wasn't our fault," I jumped at the sudden revival of Kojiro... wait is everyone just laying wide awake on the floor waiting for their queue or something? "it was those Mono-teachers, they gave us a new bottle that secretly had holes punched in it," Kojiro cursed, I could hear him spit a string of cusses at the end. When the door opened again to reveal Akira, holding a mop and wash cloth.

"I got the cleaning supplies," she said, beginning to distribute the items. After that we were all working to clean the walls and floor, I shuddered as my hand stuck to a warm sticky patch, I should have just stayed with Yuzuru and Grant.

* * *

After the whole mess was cleaned up, ourselves included (thank god the baths were open) I sat down next to Danny, "Have you seen Yuzuru and Grant?" I asked.

"Yeah. They are right there," Danny gestured. Oh. They were sitting across from us.

"You're getting pretty tired aren't you?" Grant worried, "What should we do?"

"We could do what Sanyu suggested and make stuff," Yuzuru replied, I was a little surprised at the suggestion, but I was ready too. I pulled the box out from under the table, setting the supplies out, "How long were you waiting to do that?"

"Can I join you," Kojiro says alerting us to his presence and sparkling eyes.

"Yeah sure," I said, offering him a seat. Soon others followed making items for themselves or just making garbage.

"Sanyu, what do you think?" My attention pulled to Danny's work. It was four beaded necklaces, one was a simple black and white. Another one with silver, navy blue, and black beads, And the next necklace a forest green with feathers tied in. The last a black and green thread twisted together to hold a plane charm.

"That's pretty cool," I said, "but why do you need four necklaces?"

"Sanyu these aren't for me," Danny said, "they are for the girls."

"Then go for it," I cheered, but Danny froze up, "what's wrong?"

"What if they hate it?" He said quickly.

"I'll go with you," I said, my presence must have given Danny some courage, because he walked right up to Haruna.

"Haruna, I made this for you," he said presenting the navy blue, black, silver necklace.

"Thank you!" Haruna said, taking the necklace from him, "but I don't wear jewelry, so no thank you," smiling she gave the necklace back. Ouch, I shot him a thumbs up to him in encouragement. Danny flashed me a look and then went to Yukihiro.

"Hey Yukihiro, I made this for you, I thought it might go with your outfit," he said, offering it her.

Yukihiro clapped her hands together with a smile on her face, "Thank you Danny! It does fit nicely with the rest," Yukihiro stood up reaching for it when suddenly her foot slipped making her hand come down lighting fast, effectively snapping the necklace in half sending the beads flying along with her. "S-sorry!" Yukihiro shouted, beginning a speech-like apology. It took a some consoling and promising that Danny will make another for her before Yukihiro stopped. I felt like stopping Danny from giving the rest their necklaces, considering the streak so far, but he looked determined.

Next he went to Veliah, her piercing gaze not stopping him, "hey Veliah, I thought the feathers looked pretty cool, and thought this would be perfect for you," he said tentatively. Veliah took it from him without a word and put it on without acknowledgement. Danny turned to look at me, I shrugged, he then slowly left going to Akira last.

"I know what you're about to give me," Akira said quickly, focusing on her project, "thank you," she took the necklace from Danny and pocketed it. After that Danny came back at sat down again.

"I guess that didn't go as planned," Kenta chuckled, leaning over to us, "no luck with the ladies."

"Ah it's fine, if they don't like me, then they don't like me," Danny shrugged off Kenta's words, "I don't want to force them into liking me," Danny turned to me holding Haruna's necklace "Anyways here you can have this."

"Thanks," I said, I wasn't much of a necklace kind of guy, so I figured it would be fine to just wrap it into a bracelet. My new fashion statement got Yuzuru's attention, he stood next to me looking like he wanted to say something, "is something wrong Yuzuru?"

With a quick glance to Grant, Yuzuru held his fist out, "Here," he said placing a bracelet in my hand. It was blue and red yarn braided together. I must be pretty popular today, getting all these gifts. "It's not like I wanted to give you this, Grant just made me!" Yuzuru seemed to have gotten agitated at my lack of response.

"Well I like it, I'll wear it," I said putting it on, that seemed to pacify his outburst.

"D-dumbass!" Yuzuru stomped off back to his spot with Grant, who then got the brunt of Yuzuru's anger. What a weird guy. I went back to my project, working into the night, or day- whatever time it really is.

* * *

 **Eyyyy day 2, not sleeping gives us a lot of free time ;) i feel like I'm messing up my own free time formula lol, it's easy to get distracted by this many characters, I also kinda made this chapter a bit on the funny side**


	7. Chapter 1: ooohhhhhhh nooooo!

"I'm tired, Sanyu," Yuzuru said, his head resting in his hands.

"I know buddy," I reply taking a big swig of coffee, "we all are."

"But I'm super tired," Yuzuru wined. His complaint irked me for some reason, what made him think he was so special.

"Just go splash some water on your face," I snapped, Yuzuru glared at me.

"Jackass," Yuzuru shot back, "I don't feel like I can trust anyone here anymore..."

"I don't know I feel like not everyone is bad," I admitted, the strawberry incident showed me how dorky everyone really is, "haven't you made friends with anyone?"

"Well, I don't know, I guess Grant, I also feel pretty close to y-you," Yuzuru stammered, aw he must be embarrassed to say I'm his friend.

"Don't worry Yuzuru we're friends," I said clapping him on the back, Yuzuru chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, friends," Yuzuru sighed, "Hey, there's someone I think has the wrong impression of me, do you know how I can make them see me differently?"

"Hm, I guess changing your appearance would help. It would make them see you in a different light," I suggest, Yuzuru went quiet, "You could also get someone else's input."

"That's true… I'll go do that!" Yuzuru stood up, and I watched Yuzuru go talk to Grant, maybe Grant's the friend he wants to see him in a different light?

"What's going on?" Alan asked appearing next to me.

"Nothing!" I shouted startled.

"Jeez, can't even look scared," Alan mumbled, "at least you can sound like it."

"What do you need Alan?" I asked, generally curious why Alan was talking to me all of a sudden.

"The dynamic duo are annoying me half to hell," he replied gesturing to Haruna and Kenta who were having a card building contests, apparently arguing over how Kenta had cheated, "and I figured if anyone is going to leave me in peace, It's you, my expressionless friend."

"Oh ha. Ha. Ha." I exaggerated, but he wasn't wrong I wasn't going to annoy him unless he wanted me to. Though that was before I saw Alan had a book in his hands, "what are you reading?"

"It's a textbook," he replied curtly.

"What's it about," I ask, Alan simply holds the book up flashing the title 'Chemistry: Ionic Bonds and More!' "oh... do you like chemistry?"

"Well I came here for silence and that's not happening, so I'm going to go" Alan said, closing his book "I'll tell you what, next free time we can have our little tea party bonding session," Alan left going to sit by himself. After a bit of silence I could feel my eyes start to droop, just blinking made them burn. I took another sip of my coffee and went to make another dozen artsy projects, knowing nothing better to do I joined the others who were being coached by Kojiro on how to make a pony bead keychain fish. In time we all had made enough to put an assembly line to shame, and then we began to make origami, once again instructed by our good teacher.

I noticed Veliah come into the room, quickly looking around, wondering what she was doing, I watching until we accidentally made eye contact. I must be really tired, because I didn't care and continued to stare till my vision went unfocused. I was rightfully scared when she teleported next to me.

"Sanyu, you want to go with me to the trash incinerator?" Veliah asked.

"Why me?" I whined, staying in my seat.

"You looked like you were about to knock out, might as well get you helping," she explained, hitting me lightly with the trash bag to wake me up more.

"Sanyu, you shouldn't dump all the work on a lady like this," Danny speech was broken by a loud yawn, "I'll help you miss," despite saying this Danny did not move.

"Danny, you're not moving," I said, Danny let out another yawn.

"Yeah I am," he said.

"You're not," I yawned too.

"Yes I am," he repeated.

"Ok, Sanyu you're coming with me," had Veliah not interrupted, the repeated conversation could have gone on forever, "Danny, get some more coffee."

"Can't, Yuzuru and Grant drank the last of it," Danny explained, "all that's left are protein shakes."

"The protein shakes are all that's left," Kenta repeated bluntly. There was a low rumble as a few of us hummed in understanding, I found it pretty funny the way we all harmonized.

"Ok, you're all going insane," Akira mumbled, "we have a whole box left still, it's just in the storage room."

"So we should look in the storage room for some more then?" Veliah said, "we can do that on the way back from the trash incinerator," Veilah and I quickly checked the bulletin board after some pushing on my part, mostly because I was worried the gate would lock behind us. Though I soon found my worries were unfounded when it was listed as constantly open. We both grabbed a large trash bag, I felt like hiding in embarrassment when I saw Veilah effortlessly carry two, while I struggled with just one. On the way there we didn't talk, so I began to busy myself by picking at my bead project, it was a little green fish about the color of Veliah's hair. I wonder if I should gift this to her? I mean it didn't go to well for Danny, but I might as well.

"Do you want this?" I asked holding it out, I got about the same response as Danny did.

"Thanks," she said taking it, but that's about as far as our conversation got. I probably wouldn't even been able to string a conversation anyways, as I'm pretty much dead on my feet. I mean I didn't even react when I bumped into Veilah as she stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" I slurred tiredly.

"The incinerator is on, half done even," she informed, "whoever turned it on was rushing, ash is everywhere," Veilah got closer and inspected the contents, "it looks like clothes?" The implications shook me awake.

"Maybe someone took out the trash before us?" I reasoned.

"No one's touched the pile, and none of the supplies we had contained clothing," she replied, "has anyone been missing?"

"No, not that I remember," I had a sinking feeling I should have.

"I think we should hold off on burning the trash," Veilah said, setting the bags in the corner, "let's ask the others if they've burned anything first."

With that intention we walked in silence back to the cafeteria, both of us distracted until Veilah spoke, "I don't know why I'm acting like this, I should be used to it," she said it off handily, probably forgetting my presence.

I stopped, suddenly curious at what she meant, "what do you mean?" I ask, she looked at me confused, "You just said you were used to this, what do you mean?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say that..." She looked at me searching me over, "I meant I should feel used to death, to this overhanging feeling."

"I see," I mumbled, I didn't expect Veliah to open up so I was surprised when she continued.

"When I was younger I used to live in Italy, until I was 11," she began, "life there was ok, but there wasn't much to look forward to, even at home. We moved here after my father passed away, it was scary beginning again, and for some reason this whole killing game is reminding me of that."

"I see, I guess this killing game is like a new territory," I could see where Veilah was coming from, "but I don't know, is it really that new?"

"Interesting thought," Veilah replied, "why do you think that?"

"You know," I say, not really wanting to go into it, but Veliah signaled for me to continue, "the whole Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History really changed some things, death and terrorism is the new norm so shouldn't we all be used to it now?" I had more to say but stopped when I see her staring me down, "what's wrong?" I ask.

"It's just, it sounds like you're more used to this then I am," Veliah said looking at me knowingly, "A little desensitized, but I feel like you were like that before the tragedy."

"That's stupid," don't, "why do you think that?" Stop.

"At my life story, you did not coo me like others would have," Veliah gaze was pierced with curiosity, "you didn't say your apologies, didn't mention how you will be there for me, like others had done before," She closed her eyes in thought, turning away, "even with The Tragedy some people still fall for sob stories."

"Maybe I just don't care," Veilah may have given her life story, but she won't get mine, "you won't get me to say anything."

"That's fine," Veilah seemed to drop it with that, and even if she didn't the force of her hitting the wall threw her off. It took me a second to realize what had happened before scrabbling to help her up.

"Are you ok?" I asked looking at her red face, "you hit pretty hard," Veliah's face flared even redder in embarrassment.

"I just got distracted talking to you," she defended.

"It's this motive, it's getting to us all," I tried to comfort, "you're no different."

"Shut up" she mumbled shaking my arm off, I looked at her head and saw a bump forming.

"I truly hate motive's like this," Veliah's eyes narrowed, shooting a glare at an invisible enemy, "I hate pointless death," her eyes now softened, the invisible enemy someone else.

Pointless death? But no one's dead yet? Maybe this has something to do with what she said earlier. I could feel that Veilah opened up a lot, but there were still things hidden, but that's fine, she has her reasons. I let out a yawn, and tasted coffee on my breath, ugh, gross, though it did remind me, "Can we go to the storage room, We need some more coffee," I asked, Veliah agreed and together we went there, but along the way Veliah saw something.

"Hey Sanyu what's that," I looked to where she was pointing, a shiny liquid was on the ground, uncertain we went to inspect. It was a footprint, actually more like a trail of them leading off, squatting down, I touched the liquid.

"It's blood," I said, standing up sharply and quickly backtracking the trail, "it's coming from the storage room," when we came to the door I noticed the footprints continued inside, "I'll check it out, you get the others," Veliah seemed thankful, and took off to the cafeteria. Slowly I opened the door, peeking inside, and was met by a horrendous sight. It was Grant, and he was definitely dead, blood was splashed on the walls, a metal chain was lying on top of him.

"A body has been discovered!" A monitor announced, playing its jingle.

"Sanyu, who is it?" At the bells Danny came up behind me, making me jump.

"It's Grant," I felt like throwing up, "he's dead."

 **Ah yes, murder. Almost forgot about that with all these fun chapters, but alas this is no school mode and someone will have to die :) (I'm having way too much fun coming up with arts n' crafts ideas lol)**

 **Beta Notes: I Am In Pain Over This Trial**


	8. Chapter 1: investigation!

"What?" Danny's eyes went wide with shock, then gained a sad look, "I see... Where is he?"

"In the storage room, right in front of the door," I answered, turning away when Danny goes to open the door to peer inside. I regret not getting to know Grant more, but it still was hard to see him like that. I looked around trying to focus my attention on other things, like maybe that Mono-teacher coming towards us... Wait! "Hey, what do you want!" I asked angrily, these guys can't mean anything good.

"Relax, my star pupil, Sanyu," the Mono-teacher said waving, oh no it's him, "I'm only here to explain the basics, Danny my man," 55 said, pointing finger guns at a bewildered Danny.

"I brought everyone else," behind 55 I see Veliah and the rest coming, I noticed a few people looking away or cursing at the sight of the bloody footprints, the rest just looking disappointed, "why's the monokuma teacher here?" She asked, the others looking curious now as well.

"I'm here to explain the 'investigation time' for you all," as 55 said this, he produced a clip board, "here's the monokuma file," 55 held it out, slowly Kojiro took it, "ok, so now that someone is dead, you're free to sleep," I could feel the weight on my shoulders lift, "but I wouldn't recommend doing it just yet, we still have a investigation to do. Not everyone has to sleep just yet so if you want to investigate or maybe destroy some evidence, you can do that," and the weight was right back on, "ok, my dudes, I'll be in my room if you need anything," and 55 left. The air was thick with tension from the decision to go to bed or investigate.

"Well I'm going to bed," Haruna stated readying to hurry off.

"You can't, we still need to investigate while everything's still here," I said, Haruna shot me a glare.

"I don't care, I mean there's 14 of us, what difference would it make if I left," she defended. Unsure of what to do I looked for help, just when I was about to give up Yuzuru spoke up.

"I think we should investigate," he said somberly. Looking at Yuzuru I remembered the incident that made him and Grant friends, this must be hard for him.

"It would be in our best interests to investigate now," Evan said, he then went to Kojiro, and asked for the clip board, "I see," Evan said to himself, and walked off seemingly following the bloody footprints, handing the clipboard back. This piqued everyone's interest, everyone crowded around the clipboard to see what it said.

Victim: Grant Kingsmen

"The cause of death was a blow to the head, and blood loss from thin repeated stab wounds."

"The murder took place in the storage room."

"There is a blood trail leading out of the room."

"There is a thick chain lying on the body."

"The blood in the room is not all from Grant."

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Monokuma File_**

"There isn't much..." Kenta noted, "they are very confident in us, aren't they?" I hope not, my deduction abilities are good, but not enough to bet my life on. Coming out of my train of thought I briefly felt a hand reach around me and yank the board from Kojiro.

"Let me see!" It was Yuzuru, he seemed more fired up than before, "blood trail?!" That piece of information seemed to shock him, looking around widely he then found the blood trail and took off following it.

"We should split up, a few follow the blood trail, and others inspect the main crime scene," Yukihiro suggested, there were noises of agreement, and everyone divided into groups. Haruna, Yukihiro, Kenta, M, Alan, Kojiro, Yoshiki, Akira and I stayed behind to investigate the initial crime scene, everyone else followed the footprints. I stopped when I noticed Yukihiro staring at the door.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her, she seemed surprised that I'd ask.

"It's about the door timers, we don't want it to lock in the middle of the investigation," Yukihiro said, she brought up a pretty good point. Unless the door timers stop for investigating, we could lose evidence, and time.

"Don't worry, I have a solution for that, I figured it out after Sanyu and Danny got trapped," Yoshiki said walking into the storage room, tiptoeing around the crime scene, and coming back with a wooden door stop, "we just have to stop it from locking," Yoshiki put the door stop down, effectively stopping the door from closing, "I didn't bring it up before, because I didn't want someone to use it to sneak around," he explained. Yoshiki was right, someone could easily have used it to make a alibi with the door timers, I mean seriously it was that simple to get around the door times! What other simple solutions am I missing? But this brought another thing to mind, I need to be careful around these guys, they're actually pretty smart. I put that worry aside and proceeded to the door only to be scared shitless by a high pitched scream.

"What the hell?" I yelled startled, I ran inside to see Haruna screaming. She looked ok, if a bit spooked, Akira rushed over to her helping her get out of the room. I guess Haruna got scared by the body? I mean this is pretty terrible.

"Well that was unnecessary," Alan said, he seemed to be staring sadly at Grant.

"It must be hard seeing this," I tried to comfort, but apparently I interpreted wrong.

"Huh? Oh I don't care, I expected this," he crouched over the body, "I just wish my chains weren't considered evidence, I want them back."

Well it seems he really didn't care, and honestly that made me a little mad, I mean someone's dead! And he just wants his 'jewelry' back, "It doesn't matter, we should move it anyways," I say going to pick the chains up, but suddenly Alan grabbed my wrist stopping me.

"Sanyu, you sound like a nice guy, so I'm going to give some advice," he let go of my wrist, "don't touch my stuff, or something bad might happen," I felt a chill at how serious he sounded, what's going to happen if I do touch his stuff? I was then thankfully distracted by the storage room door opening to reveal Yuzuru.

"I'm here to help," he said walking over to help search the room. Minutes later I saw Yoshiki go to the door, he noticed me too.

"There's too many people," I heard Yoshiki say to me, before exciting, "I'll investigate somewhere else."

I wanted to do something to help, even if it was just rechecking over things. It made me queasy, but I decided to investigate the crime scene more. Grant's body was spread out on the floor, back to the ground, eyes wide, he must have been taken by surprise, but how? Blood was everywhere, like the killer got too carried away with the act, it's obvious that almost all of it came from the stab wounds, maybe a little from the head wound?

I looked to see Kojiro still with the Monokuma file clipboard, he seemed a bit nervous, "You okay, Kojiro?" I asked.

"Yeah, just a little nervous," he said, "I'm feeling a little paranoid," Paranoid, what for? It's not possible, did Kojiro kill Grant!? "Hey, I know that look, you're thinking I killed Grant! Well I didn't, I'm a new person now, got that!" He stated. Wanting to get back on track I looked over his shoulder to quickly read over the injuries, then went back to the body. The stab wounds were small and thin, and quite cleanly cut, the cuts covered his stomach and chest with butcher like results, but he also had cuts and stabs on his forearms. I knew from experience that the position of the cuts on the arms were from trying to protect himself, had there been a fight? I looked closely at the body for any suggestions of a fight, but nothing came to me besides the fact his clothes were in a disarray and all of his pockets turned inside out.

 _ **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Resistance**_

"Has anyone seen the murder weapon?" Yuzuru asked, searching through some boxes.

"For the sharp object, no," Kenta replied, "but the blunt object for the head wound is definitely the chains."

"These are Alan's chains right?" Yuzuru brought up, "That's a little suspicious," we all then looked at Alan. Yuzuru was right, it was suspicious.

"I'm not an idiot, if I wanted to kill someone I wouldn't use such an obvious weapon," Alan said, agitated. He also made a good point, like Yuzuru, I didn't realize how hard it was to convict someone, but I guess we have a suspect. I noticed Kojiro and Kenta looking at the body, talking about something, and pointing at the body with pens.

"Is something wrong with the body?" I asked

"Actually yeah, look at these wounds," Kenta said, using a pen to pick up the chains, my vision was unfocused from lack of sleep so I couldn't tell what he was showing me, so I leaned in closer, "there's a burn-like wound under the chain, I don't think it was there before?" This caught the attention of M, who rushed over.

"Let me see," M suddenly said, crouching over the body. In a second my hand was swatted away by M, but before I could protest M explained, "it's poison, don't touch it," M said it like it was nothing, but it still made everyone jump back, keeping their distance, "I don't know what kind it really is, but it is some sort of acid, because it makes the most sense with these wounds," M looked up from Grants corpse, and at Alan, "Right?" Is this why Alan stopped me from touching it?

"Why should I answer that?" Alan snapped, "Maybe the killer put it there,"

"If that's true then the killer's hands are going to melt soon, it's best if everyone who touched the body or chains with their bare skin, to go wash their hands," That sent Yuzuru scurrying out the door, and Yukihiro calmly, but quickly, following him. Yoshiki, Kenta, Kojiro, Alan, and M stayed behind and continued to look at the body, "the poison's been diluted, so it may take a bit for it to effect the killer's hands, even if they were wearing gloves," M concluded.

"Not just the killers," Kojiro said, curious as to what he meant, I came closer. Grant's hands had the burns too, his entire palm and fingers were a blistered red, but strangely the back wasn't affected, could Grant have touched the chains?

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Strange Acid Burns on Hands_**

As I watched everyone go to work, I soon realized that I wasn't doing much to help, considering five people could easily cover the small room. I went outside and stood at the door, closing my eyes I remembered how tired I still was, but I've made it this far, no reason to quit now. I decided to go see how the other group is doing, so I started following the blood trail, it led straight to the laundry room.

"Sanyu, you've come to help us?" Danny said waving me over to him, Veliah, and Yoshiki was with him, but no sign of James or Evan, I should find them next.

"I guess, I'm actually just wandering around," I said, "have you found anything?"

"A towel and some clothes are missing, at least we think," Danny said, "the clothing missing is from the students in the original killing game, they each had a basket with like five pairs of the same clothes," Danny showed me a hamper filled with old discarded pants and shirts, "but a few things are missing from each set."

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Missing Clothes_**

"Why?" I ask, why steal clothes? Did the killer change clothes? But we would notice that?

"Maybe to disguise themselves when they killed?" Veliah interjected, her answer made more sense then mine, so that may be what happened. I was even more confused than when I came in, so I bid goodbye to them intending to go back to the storage room, only to bump into Yukihiro, on her way back from the bathroom, "Hey are your hands ok?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, I mostly did it just to be safe," she explained.

"Have you seen Evan or James, I haven't seen them in awhile?" I asked.

"No I haven't actually, Yuzuru came with me, maybe he'd know?" Yukihiro paused in thought, "Oh! I did see Akira and Haruna go into the cafeteria, maybe they've seen them?"

"Ok, thanks," I left to go find them, as I walked into the cafeteria I noticed that the door stopper idea was in play here too, inside I see a sleeping Haruna, Akira seated next to her looking through a notebook.

"What's the notebook for?" I asked, she jumped at my sudden appearance, "and should Haruna be sleeping outside the dorms?"

"Sanyu, don't sneak up on me," Akira looked at me annoyed, then let out a sigh, "Grant signed out on the log book, but not signed back in, so unless this was premeditated than the murder must have signed out too," Akira said, "despite what that Mono-teacher said, the dorms are still locked, so I'm just going to watch for Mono-teachers and wake her when they come around, for some reason there seems to be less of them now," She handed the notebook to me, looking inside I read the names.

Pg 3

Alan- restrooms- Alan

Evan- baths- Evan

Yoshiki- restrooms- Yoshiki

Akira- storage- Akira

yuzuru- restrooms- yuzuru

Veliah- restrooms- Veliah

 _Erased_

Grant- storage-

alan- storage-

Veliah/Sanyu- incinerator-

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Log Out Book_**

Instantly I noted that a space was erased, and after a good inspection, that a few of the names were written differently, that could be useful, "Have you seen James and Evan?" I asked, handing the notebook back.

"Yeah, they were heading toward the baths," she answered. The baths, why?

"Ok," I exited the cafeteria, but not before apologizing to Akira for scaring her, she let out a bark of a laugh at that. I continued to the baths to find James and Evan standing at the door, "What are you two doing?"

"Sanyu, great to see you," James greeted, "have you found anything out? Because Evan here is practically giving me a free ride with this investigation," he laughed, Evan seemed a bit annoyed at the loud voice, but didn't say anything about it.

"Well, Akira showed me the sign-out book, and it turns out Alan's chains were poisoned," I informed, "and Danny told me some clothes are missing," Evan looked in thought, James leaned back against the wall waiting for something.

"I see," Evan said, nodding, this is apparently what James was waiting for.

"Me and Evan were following a blood trail," he interjected, I looked around, I didn't see a blood trail? "I didn't see it at first ether, see Evan it's not obvious to everyone! Anyways, it's on the wall, if you look closely you'll see bloody fingerprints from the laundry room to here," with that new information I could now see faint red dots consistently peppering one side of the hall low to the ground, "We think the killer went into the baths, because the trail stops here."

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Bloody Fingerprints on Wall_**

"Why don't you go in then?" I asked.

"We would if we could, but the door timers have already gone," to emphasize his point, James jiggled the handle to no avail, "we went and got a Mono-teacher about it, and they said they'd unlock it, so we're waiting," so I waited also, it didn't take long for the click to alert us. Opening it we went inside and began to investigate, the floors were wet, and the air steamy, like someone had taken a hot bath. The place really didn't have much to offer other than being humid, distracted I stepped in a puddle which made me slip, and land hard on my back. The fall knocked the air out of me, so for awhile I didn't feel like moving so I just laid there until I noticed a silvery glint in my eye, rolling over I reached under a stool to pull out a pair of sharp intricate silver scissors.

 ** _OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Silver Scissors in Baths_**

"I found something," I said, when I could breathe again. I held it up catching the attention of James, and Evan.

"Why are you on the floor," James asked, helping me up, I waved it off saying it didn't matter.

"Where did you find those?" Evan asked, holding his hand out.

Giving the scissors to him, I answered, "It was under that stool, but it wasn't hidden or anything."

"What is it?" James asked.

"Possibly the murder weapon," Evan theorized, I responded quickly to that.

"The murder weapon, here?" I doubted.

"Why is the murder weapons here?" James wondered, "What if the killer wanted to wash off the evidence and dropped the weapon?"

"Let's save it for the trial," Evan replied, "we should regroup with everyone and see what else has been found-" Evan was cut of by the loud sound of speaker feedback.

"It is time for the class trial!" The voice announced, reverberating through the building.

"Ok," James shrugs and walks off with Evan to the big red doors of the trial room elevator, uneasy I follow close behind, joining up with Danny and surprisingly Yuzuru, who seemed a bit down.

"Don't worry Yuzuru, I'm sure we will get the killer," I reassured, as the elevator shook to life and descended. My stomach growing more uneasy and my head was swimming, the effects of the adrenaline from seeing Grant dead, wearing off, reminding me once again how tired I am.

"You're damn right you will," Yuzuru spat, "you better promise me you'll find the right guy, and don't stop until you really do," he seemed to get more fired up with each word, grinning he gave me a hard slug on the shoulder. Soon the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened slowly to reveal the class trial room.

* * *

 **DOUBLE-DOUBLE UPDATE! It's a bad habit of mine to write future chapters before the present ones, so that's why I got this one out so early... Hopefully I'll get better at dropping clues in the next investigation... Also do you think the 'obtained truth bullet' is to much? I'm a little iffy on em**

 **Beta Notes: This Trial Has Caused Me Much Pain.**


	9. Chapter 1: the end of case 1!

"Welcome!" The shrill voice of a Mono-teacher announced, I recognized his voice as the one who announced the motive, "to the trial room, here we will debate who's innocent and who is guilty!" As they said this we were crowded out of the elevator and to our podiums. The room was just as the broadcasts showed, large and intimidating, the podiums were evenly spaced and polished. As a grim reminder of what happened there was a picture frame on a stand, Grant's face was portrayed as bland and static as they could make it. I found that our group was one short of fully completing the circle, giving us a incomplete and unprecedented look.

Next I took note of those around me, Yuzuru on my right and M to my left, and Yukihiro straight across,"So since this is the first trial I will go over the rules and how this will go!" The Mono-Teacher raised his hand dramatically and a large screen lowered, turning on to reveal a familiar mechanical bear on the screen, drinking a blue martini before noticing us.

"Thrills, Chills, and Kills!" The Monokuma bear yelled, switching to a new sprite position, "oh that's right, it's me, the one the only Monokuma! And I'm no fake!"

"What do you mean the real thing?" Yukihiro yelled in horror.

"That's impossible, Junko Enoshima is dead," Kojiro said, looking the monitor down, "there's no way you're her!"

"Oh but I am, I mean in a sense," Monokuma's still image changed to a angry one, its claws outstretched, "I'm a AI, stupid! I mean, this song and dance has been done already, so it's possible for me to be here."

"I knew it you're the mastermind, aren't you!" Haruna yelled.

"Put some of your deduction skills to work and look at me," Monokuma grumbled, "I'm stuck in this monitor, these guys got me locked up in some secure server. I can't do anything," the bear gained a gloomy look, mushrooms sprouting from its head, "how despairing." I honestly didn't know whether to believe Monokuma or not, was that thing actually trapped?

"Are you really Junko Enoshima," Akira asked her voice demanding.

"No, I just said I'm a AI, a poorly done one at that," Monokuma admitted, "if anything I'm a AI based off the original _Monokuma_ , so I'm no ultimate analyst," the sprite changed again, this time to a moving image of the bear dancing seductively, "but don't worry there is some ultimate model charm left!"

"But if you're not the mastermind, then who is?" Danny asked, that aggravated Monokuma.

"Why does everyone always ask that!" Monokuma's angry sprite came back, cartoonish steam coming off the head, "I'm just here to rule over the class trials while the N.E.E.T. of a mastermind is hiding away, and leaving these brainwashed duds to do their dirty work," I noticed that none of the Mono-teachers responded to that jab, were they actually brainwashed? or just loyal followers? Actually there's not much difference between the two, is there?

"That aside, we should continue to the trial," Yuzuru cut in, "the anticipation is killing me!"

"Yuzuru's right," Evan agreed, but before leaving he asked, "anyways, what is your position here?"

"Geez, real killjoys aren't you," Monokuma said, "I'm here to do what I do best, judge! I have full reign on security cameras and audio in this school to make the correct judgement, while the real mastermind is away."

"Why can't the Mono-teachers do it?" I asked, wouldn't that be easier?

"No more questions!" Monokuma yelled, "we have a trial to do, get cracking already!"

Everyone went silent, unsure how to start before a demanding voice took control of the room, "First and foremost we should go over what we are certain," Evan said, "such as the Monokuma File."

"Well the victim was Grant Kingsmen, and the cause of death was a blow to the head, and blood loss from thin repeated stab wounds," Yuzuru stated confidently. It looks like Yuzuru and Evan were going to be the driving force of this trial.

"The murder took place in the storage room," Haruna continued, "and there is a blood trail leading out of the room."

"There is a thick chain lying on the body," Kojiro finished.

"Very good. There are few things I want to focus on in the file," Evan said, bringing everyone's attention back to him, "specifically the part that states that the blood in the room is not all from Grant."

"Yes, I remember that," Yukihiro said, "so you believe someone else has been killed?"

"No way! Everyone but Grant is present," Alan interjected, "the Monokuma File must be lying!" As soon as Alan said that something began to bug me, the Monokuma File would have no reason to lie or just say useless information. There must be more to that statement, I thought back on key moments when suddenly I made a connection.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Resistance**

"That's wrong!" I shout, cutting Alan off, he looks shocked at my outburst, "Or well, most of it is. You're right when you say no one else was killed, but when I observed the body I noticed slash marks along Grant's forearms, you can only gain wounds like that protecting yourself," I say, but my rebuttal wasn't good enough, as Alan just came back stronger.

"So Grant put up resistance, but that doesn't tell us anything," Alan shot back, "the blood's still all Grant's."

"No, Sanyu brings up a good point," Evan says, "resistance means a fight... I feel that should bridge us nicely over to the autopsy report, what condition was the body in?"

"Besides what was stated by the file," Kojiro thought for a second, "the stab wounds were violent and choppy, I'd say the killer had a personal vendetta."

"The killer and victim were close, cases like this commonly happen between friends or lovers," Evan explained, this must be experience from the courtroom.

"From my inspection of the body I noticed that Grant's clothes were disheveled," Kenta said, "the pockets were turned out and the shirt was half untucked, it looked like someone had done a search on the body."

"I saw that too, it was probably the killer?" Kojiro responded.

"I don't think so," Kenta said, "but maybe it was..."

"There was the stab wounds and the head trauma, but we also found acid burns on the body," M informed, bringing the focus back, "the acid burns came from Alan's chains, so anyone who's touched them would be burned as well."

"From Alan's chains?" Yuzuru asked, "Alan did you know your chains had poison on them?"

"What, yeah of course I did," Alan replied nonchalant, "heck, I even made it."

"Then that's it!" Kojiro shouted, "Alan's the killer, he just admitted it."

"Alan has showed us how little he cares about people dying, it wouldn't be unbelievable if he is the murder" Kenta said, "I heard him say he didn't care that Grant was dead."

Alan gave an exaggerated yawn, "Wow, Super Highschool Level detective, did you come up with that all on your own," the tone was condensing as all hell, "besides, I keep the poison on it 24/7, the killer just had to get it off the self."

"That's interesting information, but how can we be certain it was actually you who made the poison?" Yuzuru asked, "Forgive me if I'm being prestigious, but you were just a reserve course student."

There was a hushed 'ooooh' and eyes were jumping between the two, "And what does it matter if I did or didn't make the poison," Alan ground his teeth together.

"It means a lot, for example if you did make it then you would know how to avoid it, thus leaving no trace behind," Yuzuru took a confident stance, "but the crime scene was very poorly done, only a novice with poison would leave that mess behind, so you are lying about your knowledge to cover your mistakes."

"But I saw Alan with a chemistry book, and he seemed to show understanding in it," I vouched, and for a second Yuzuru looked disappointed.

"That is merely a book, he could have picked it up out of simple boredom rather than interest," Yuzuru replied.

"You just won't believe anything, will you!" Alan snarled, "I'm starting to think you're the real killer."

"Then give me proof," Yuzuru cut back, "because so far you've done nothing for your innocence!"

"Enough!" Evan shouted, "The murder happened in the storage room, where the chains were easily accessible by the killer," his glare settled the room, "to both kill and frame."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep it in mind," Yoshiki replied in a calm tone, "even if it doesn't make sense, why would he use his signature if he's trying to stay hidden,"

"Alan could easily kill someone, it's obvious that he doesn't care about anyone," Yuzuru was angry, and it looked like he didn't want to let go, "he used the chains to kill Grant, no doubt about it."

"But that can't be," I retorted, striking through Yuzuru's accusation, "because it wasn't the killer who used the chains but Grant!"

"How do you know?" Danny asked, unsure.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Strange Acid Burns on Hands**

"Both of Grant's palms are burned by the acid, the only way he could have gotten his hands to look like that is by grabbing the weapon," I explained.

"But why would he have grabbed the chains anyways?" Yukihiro asked.

"To fight back!" I replied, "He has cuts showing resistance, and burn marks from holding the chains, and the Monokuma File states that not all of the blood in the room is Grant's."

"Grant took the weapon and fought back, injuring the killer!" Yukihiro concluded, finishing the picture excitedly.

"How can you be sure with just that?" M asked, "it's plausible, but I need more evidence to be sure."

"Then fingerprint trail we found could be your evidence," James declared suddenly, "it came from killer trying to support themselves on the wall."

"Fingerprint trail, where was this?" Akira asked.

"It was on the wall, it leads from the laundry room to the bathroom," James said.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Bloody Fingerprints on Wall**

"So the killer's hurt," Kojiro says, "that is something we all agree on?" There was a unanimous agreement in reply.

"Yes and he left a pretty low trail fingerprint trail," I say to the room.

"And to support yourself you must balance your weight on your side, or in this case your hands, and to do that you must keep your hands at least equal height with your shoulder," Evan implied.

"Wait, are you saying that the culprit is short" I asked, remembering how low down the trail was.

"Yuzuru, you're like four feet tall," Haruna laughed, "maybe it was you!" Yuzuru's face turned red with anger.

"I'm exactly 5 feet, you know," Yuzuru corrected, standing as tall as he can.

"So it's someone short and they are wearing gloves... I think that fits Yuzuru quite well!" Kenta accused, bringing all eyes on the new suspect. Kenta was correct, Yuzuru was wearing lace trimmed, cloth gloves, but I honestly no clue if those were new additions or not.

"But I have always worn these, surely you must have noticed," Yuzuru replied in defense, "or are you just too stupid to remember anything."

"What!" Kenta bristled in anger.

"Why does it matter if he's wearing gloves?" Haruna asked quietly, leaning closer to M on her left.

"The poison on the chains would have burned the killer too if he touched them," M whispered helpfully, "so the killer may be wearing gloves."

Haruna nodded before joining back in, "but a lot of us are wearing gloves."

"That's right!" Yuzuru agreed, "and you have no way of knowing if these gloves are new or if I have previous injuries, so this clue isn't valid yet."

"In a way he's right," Alan begrudgingly added, "the poison reacts faster to blood and open air, if the killer has kept their hands covered and away from open wounds then it shouldn't have reacted yet."

"Then what about old blood," Yukihiro asked, earning questioning stares, "I-I mean would it react to Grant's blood?"

"If the killer got the blood off themselves fast enough then probably not," Alan said nonchalantly, "if they didn't they would be covered in burns."

"Well the killer did change clothes," Danny mentioned.

"How can you be sure of that." Akira asked, she'd been quiet for awhile now.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Missing Clothes**

"In the laundry room we found that some of the towels and clothes were missing," Danny said, "that's the best reason we could come up with."

"I remember you mentioning that," I said, "but no one here is wearing anything different, and Grant's clothes were the same too."

Yoshiki spoke up too, "And we haven't found the clothes eather."

"When Sanyu and I went to the incinerator we found it already on, and burning cloth, that's most likely the missing clothing," Veliah explained.

"But why burn the clothes anyways," I wondered before remembering what Veliah said, "maybe the killer wore the clothes before killing and just changed back into their old ones!"

"That's plausible, but then this would have to have been premeditated," Evan said, "and I doubt that."

"And the fingerprint trail led right to the bathroom too," James added, "they could have washed off there."

"That's also where we found the sharp object," Evan reminded.

"You mean the other murder weapon?" Danny asked.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Silver Scissors in Baths**

"Yeah, I found silver scissors," I replied. Evan presented the item to the room, then gestured for me to continue, "it was under a stool, it looked like it had just dropped between the cracks."

"That could connect a few things," Danny said, "did it look like someone had just taken a bath, or had just used the water?"

"Yeah, it was hot and humid," James answer, "and water was all over the floor, I almost slipped a few times!"

"So the culprit could have taken a bath or something to wash the blood away," Danny reasoned, "perhaps he even dropped the weapon in his clean up."

"Our killer was gone for quite a bit," Yukihiro said, "and left a messy trail."

"So we've gathered all our clues then?" Yuzuru asked.

"No, this could be nothing but I still feel the need to bring up the log-out book," Akira said.

"Huh, Why that?" Yuzuru said skeptically.

 **TRUTH BULLET: Log-out Book**

"Because unless this killing was premeditated, then the killer must have signed out," Akira replied, "this could also tie into the clothes mystery too."

"Do you have the book on you right now?" Alan asked. Akira then pulled out the notebook and passed it down the line.

Pg 3

Alan- restrooms- Alan

Evan- baths- Evan

Yoshiki- restrooms- Yoshiki

Akira- storage- Akira

yuzuru- restrooms- yuzuru

Veliah- restrooms- Veliah

/

Grant- storage-

alan- storage-

Veliah/Sanyu- incinerator-

"Alan signed out right after Grant and never signed back in," Kenta pointed out the text.

"So Alan followed Grant, that sounds pretty planned out," Kojiro said, "so he disguised himself, killed Grant, disposed of the outfit and washed up!"

"But the killer was rushed to clean things up," Evan added, "that's why he dropped so many things, but even then you still need time, so the murder must have happened soon after Grant left.

"And I never wrote that," Alan defended, "also if I was going to murder someone, I would not outright state it!"

"Haven't you noticed, look closely," M helped along, "his handwriting is different, when you sign your name you're pretty consistent."

Veliah now had the book, looking it over, "Alan capitalized his name on the first sign in, but it's all lower case on the second, plus the penmanship being different."

"So you're saying someone wrote his name in to make it look like he left and killed Grant," Kenta asked, "Alan's being framed."

"The writing for Alan's name is the same as Yuzuru's," Evan pointed out, "another prominent suspect."

"It's another red herring, if I was going to forge a name wouldn't I try a little harder, I think the most suspicious is the erased name," Yuzuru said calmly, bringing attention to the spot, the line was a smeared mess of pencil lead, like someone had used a bad eraser, "it's right before Grant signed out."

"So who was it?" James asked. The room was silent, no one coming forward, "So then that must be the killer if they won't even defend themselves."

 **Erased spot (analyze)**

"Actually I have a theory about that," I look at the screen with the imprisoned bear AI, "Monokuma do three people have to find the body for the announcement to go off?"

"Yep, that's right! Kept that rule from the other game," the bear cackled.

"Two others saw the body before me," I explain, "because the second I saw Grant's corpse the announcement went off."

"Are you sure it wasn't Veliah and Danny?" Akira asks, "I saw them both with you before everyone else showed up."

"No, he's right," Veilah vouches, "I only saw the bloody prints and Sanyu kindly volunteered to check- I stayed away because I get queasy at the smell of blood."

"Good job, Sanyu!" Danny gave a thumbs up at my chivalrous deed, "and I only came because Veliah told us, honestly she made it sound like it was Sanyu who was dead, so I came running and the announcement went off before I even got there."

"So two people had seen the body and haven't admitted to it yet," Yoshiki said.

I nod in assurance at the conclusion, "Yes, and I think one of the people who saw the body is the one who erased their name."

"The reason the erased name won't come forward isn't because they are scared of becoming a culprit, but because they would have to explain their actions," Evan said "I have reasons to believe that the erased name is the one who looted the body."

"But the killer could have signed out and when forging the names, signed themselves back in to throw off suspicion." M threw out there.

"Yeah, the handwriting is the same for Yuzuru and Alan," Akira supplied, "but one difference is that Yuzuru was also signed back in."

"Alibis!" Danny reminded, "We haven't done alibis!"

"Oh, I totally forgot," I said sheepishly, "But how will we do those, we were all trying to distract ourselves and all of us were too tired to really remember things clearly."

"I have one, and we don't have to remember anything for it," Kojiro hinted, then he pulled out a pony bead key chain, "our project should count as an alibi, the killer would never had enough time to have made one." And so everyone who attended the group started fishing their pockets for their creation.

"Got mine! Here it is," everyone around me spoke and I took note of who was brandishing their creation. Kojiro of course, Yukihiro, yoshiki, Haruna... It seemed everyone had one-even Alan- but Yuzuru was the only one without one.

"I-I lost mine," he retorted quickly.

"I don't remember Yuzuru being in the group," Kojiro recounted, "and I personally helped everyone, and not once did I see you."

"Yuzuru is now the biggest suspect we have," Evan affirmed, "was there any reason for him to have met with Grant?"

"I-I did say Yuzuru should try and change his image... And to ask a friend how to do it," I mentioned. Suddenly Akira lets out a gasp then went quiet.

"Is something wrong Akira?" I ask concerned.

"I did over hear Yuzuru say he wanted to change something," Akira said, "and Grant mentioned trying out the clothes in the laundry room, that must be why Yuzuru was already wearing the clothing when he killed."

"Don't go assuming I'm the killer yet," Yuzuru yelled, "I can still prove my innocence!"

"Yuzuru, I can't help but notice something about your hands," Alan said suddenly, "that this whole time they've been curled oddly," Yuzuru's eyes narrowed in suspicion and anger, "For just a reserve course I do know my poison well, and one symptom of the burns is extreme pain at the slightest of movements."

"And why does that matte-" Yuzuru was cut off by Alan.

"Yuzuru, I want you to move your hand," Alan's eyes searched every move he made, "and take off the gloves." Yuzuru's eyes went wide and his hands shook, but still he grit his teeth and opened them fully, tentatively he tried to remove the glove before hissing in pain when the glove seemed to stick.

"The gloves melted to his skin," M blankly observed, while a few others tried not to gag.

Teary-eyed, Yuzuru nodded, "you're right, I did it."

"Let's go over the events to make sure before we vote," I then begin to summarize the events of the murder, "first Yuzuru goes to the laundry room to change his clothes, and update his image. Then he went to the storage room where he was going to talk to Grant in private, but Grant instead insults Yuzuru, causing Yuzuru to try and kill him. The attack soon turns into a fight between the two, leading to Yuzuru being injured and both gaining the poison burns. Disoriented by what happened Yuzuru poorly tries to cover his act by changing back into his old clothes and washing up in the baths- around this time should be where the erased name comes in to discover the corpse and loot the body. Next Yuzuru went into the incinerator to burn the leftover evidence. And lastly he gets the idea to frame Alan by tampering with the log-out book."

"That's right," Yuzuru admitted solemnly, "you left out a few details, but overall that's what happened."

"Looking back on it, you didn't plan things out to well did you," Evan observed.

"Yeah, I was going off of adrenaline to get things done," Yuzuru said, "I figured I could come up with a good cover story later."

"You mean you came up with all of that on the spot?" Kenta tone was impressed.

"Debating is my strongest skill," Yuzuru crossed his arms, looking down on us, "I can assure you right now had my opponent not been the ultimate lawyer, you would never have suspected me."

"Yuzuru, you certainly are an ultimate debater, it was a honor to go against you," Evan said all formal, the lawyer was coming out of his high of almost being pushed to the max.

"But why did you kill him?" Haruna's asked.

"Fine, the reason I killed him was because he was a jerk," Yuzuru said stiffly, "he insulted me on something he shouldn't have even touched."

"What did he say? Was it really that bad?"

"I went to ask him some advice and he told me I was gross and immoral," Yuzuru voice trailed off as he explained, "he ridiculed something I trusted to him, and then even had the guts to insult my friend!"

"That's terrible, but so is killing someone," Yoshiki scolded.

"I'm gay!" Yuzuru shouted suddenly, everyone went silent, waiting to see where this leads, "I told him and he insulted me, and I got angry, a-" Yuzuru sniffled,"and he was dead, and I don't know," Yuzuru sobbed, "everyone always made fun of me back then so I got mad, angrier than I ever been, but I didn't mean to kill him." I felt bad just letting him cry while I was standing right next to him, so of course I had to say something.

"It's ok, Yuzuru, we know you wouldn't kill someone unless it got really bad."

"Ok! It's voting time," Monokuma proclaimed, and everyone choose their answer, "that's right, Yuzuru Taoka is the blackened!"

"Thanks Sanyu, thanks for stickin' with me even when it turned out I killed someone," Yuzuru went to shake my hand then remembered the pain it would cause and moved it back, "haaa... I might as well tell you, I think you're cute, and I like you," Yuzuru confessed shyly, "good night- I mean- bye Sanyu," With that Yuzuru was dragged down the execution tunnel, waving as he went.

"Yuzuru had a crush on me?" I whispered slowly, I honestly didn't know how to feel, I hadn't had anyone like me before. We also barely knew each other, maybe with more time, but that's not going to happen now. Honestly I felt a little guilty, if I had noticed I could have prevented this...

"It's not your fault," Akira said, coming up behind me, "it was up to Yuzuru to tell you, not for you to discover," what she said did make me feel better, but not by much. I look at the bracelet Yuzuru gave me, it felt like months ago, but in truth only a day or two had passed since he gave it, and now he was about to die. The Mono-teachers came up behind us, and corralled us to a dark open space.

 _The Spider's Bedtime Story_

 _Yuzuru is snatched by eight long mechanical legs onto a beautifully decorated bed, its quilts and wood decorated with the delicacy of a spider's thin web, Lace draped around Yuzuru like a funeral parlor designed by a mourning widow. Tragically, the beauty was broken by Yuzuru quickly being spun around, becoming wrapped entirely by a white sheet, and tied to the mattresses. Then with a sudden jerk, the bed was started down a cover belt leading to a large crusher. It's stomping rhythm, seem to shake the building with anticipation. Along the sides were the Monokumas, softly jeering and singing slurs in time with the reverberations. All the while Yuzuru had been squirming for freedom from the cocoon, finally he managed to free his head with a gasp, just to see the block right over him. Crushed with a large splat of blood. The Monokumas' voices start to die down, bemoaning the moth who had flown into the spider's web hidden by the bright lights just behind._

It was a horrible thing to witness in person, my pity for the original kids put through this only heightened. I looked around trying to distract myself by seeing others reactions. It varied from tears to fear to nothing, and once the act was done we all were allowed to leave the area. Back in the trial room was the announcer Mono-teacher distributing keys.

"These are your dorm keys, once you get back you're welcome to sleep to your heart's content," he yelled, tossing the keys at random to everyone. Not wanting to lose my key, I instead go up to him to receive it, Veliah joining me.

"I can't help but notice you're different than the other Mono-teachers," Veliah said, "you speak with more clarity and intention."

The Mono-teacher's expression was unreadable due to the mascot head, "How I act doesn't matter so long as I serve the real mastermind." Veliah 'tsks' at the answer as she swiped her key and left.

"Every one of you guys keep mentioning the 'real mastermind' what does that mean?" I ask, the announcer Mono-teacher leaned closer.

"I can't say, besides I'm not going to be around much longer anyways," The announcer Mono-teacher laughed quietly, "because I've been found out, and now the 'real mastermind' is set to neutralize me." Ok? I avoid eye contact and quickly leave, when I find my room everyone else is already getting into bed.

For some odd reason I can't help but say, "Good night everyone..."

"Night Sanyu," I hear a mumbled reply behind me.

I checked around my new room, observing the decor or rather lack of. This room was not the one I woke up in, as the bathroom door didn't jam and actually did have a lock on it, this must have been one of the girls. It didn't matter what room I got, I'm to tired to even care. Flopping I got ready to sleep when "ow!" I jerked my head up after feeling something rigid and sharp stab me from the pillow. I pick it up only to see nothing under it, so I began to pat the thing over, wincing when I felt it jab me again, It was inside the pillow. Taking off the pillow case I fiddled with the thing until I found a weakly stitched up hole and stuck my hand in and pulling out a key? (An oddly shaped one too, it had a monokuma head on the end) taking it I went to the bathroom door finding that the key fit. Maybe it was a extra room key? Going outside, I locked the door behind me, and used the new key, luckily I was right. The original owner of this room must have had a back up key incase they ever lost theirs, and the Mono-teachers must have missed it because it was hidden. I looked at the bracelet Yuzuru gave me, the bareness of it getting to me, I untie it and slip the new key on. This way I won't lose it, and I get a stylish bracelet. Going back in I flopped on the bed, absent of sharp objects, I quickly fell asleep.

Masayuki Hisakawa (M)- alive

Yukihiro Yamika- alive

Akira Nishihara- alive

Haruna takahashi- alive

Veliah Kazeto- alive

Yoshiki Kaiza- alive

Alan Wikly- alive

Sanyu Mochida- alive

Yuzuru Taoka- deceased- Beta Reader!

Kenta Yuuta- alive

James Guzman- alive

Evan Halen- alive

Danny Walker- alive

Kojiro Ryuhisa- alive

Grant Kingsmen- deceased- Me!

 **Merry... Crisis... Well case 1 is done! But that doesn't mean it should be forgotten, I will be making call backs 'til the very end! Also, if you don't like the Monokuma AI, then don't worry it only shows up for trials, it's mostly there to direct in some Divine intervention way! Oh and when your character dies I will credit you as the creator, I just think it would be a fun little nod at you guys! (But that doesn't matter yet since Yuzuru and grant were made by me and my Beta Reader (who is my sister)... Lol)**

 **Beta Notes: my son's dead guys and so am i rest in pepperonis yuzuru**

 **I have a question for you guys: if you had to put a song to your character for their execution, what would it be?**


	10. Chapter 2: Waking up from a bad dream!

"Hello everyone!" A loud fancy voice called, utterly ruining my peaceful sleep, "now I know you're tired from the last motive, but you know the saying, our work is never over!"

"Shut up!" Someone nearby yells. I stretch with a bit of resistance, and pop my back... Ugh, It feels like I've been sleeping on a rock.

"Why are you in my room?" Some else interjects. I vaguely get the feeling something's wrong, and reluctantly opened one eye.

"What do you mean, your room?!" I see Haruna shoot up into a sitting position before her eyes bug out of her head and she lets out a scream. I sit up in the realization that I went to sleep in my room and now I am not.

"What's going on why are we in the gym?" Yukihiro asked startled, bringing her hands up to slap her face and to somehow jerk Akira with her. The two stare at each other in shock, when Yukihiro lifts her hand and Akira's follows, "Why are we handcuffed together?!"

"Ha, you're stuck together," Haruna laughs going to point and bringing Veliah toppling on her, "what, us too?" With the confirmation of two pairs handcuffed, everyone began scrambling to check themselves. I turn to see Yoshiki on my left, we both give a look of resignation and look at our wrists to see that, yes we were handcuffed.

"Why is there three of us," I turn to my right to find a blank faced M stating, "why is there three of us?!" He says louder shaking his and my right wrist.

"You've been asleep for a whole day, slept right through our new morning and night announcements. So I expect you better listen right now," the voice was regal and commanding, if a bit robotic. It was a mono-teacher, female this time, "I am Mono-teacher 34 and this is your second motive, you shall spend all eternity bound to one another until death do you part," with those words she gained a dreamy (creepy) aura, and from what I could tell from her position on the stage it looked like she was our new announcer.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm marrying this idiot!" Haruna screeched, I could feel Veliah's irritation from being flailed about as Haruna pointed angrily.

"I-isn't this a bit-umm," Danny's face was pensive as he eyed the connection between him and Kenta, "how are we going to have any privacy?"

"We found it more amusing this way," the new speaker announced, "same with the trio, we ran out of people and had to improvise," the mono-teacher claps her hands, "any more questions?"

"Is this it?" I ask, "Is there anything else to the motive, and what happened to the first guy?"

"Yes, this is all there is," the mono-teacher cocks her head, "what happened to Mono-teacher 21 does not matter, and the second floor is open," with a spin she left, her heels clicking as she went.

"Why did you ask that?" Yoshiki asked.

"During the first motive the first announcer said that we would learn why the mastermind isn't here on the 2nd motive," I said, Yoshiki nodded for me to continue, "and now we are not only not getting that, but 'announcer' Mono-teacher 21 is gone."

"They are probably trying to cover something up," M reasoned, "a sudden drop in mono-teachers, poorly done security, missing people, new people, tight lipped information, I've killed enough high profile criminals to know when someone had loose ends."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," I said thinking back, I remember multiple times a few of us were able to sleep without detection, it must have been because the mono-teachers were disappearing.

"Right now, we just have to little to go on, but I'm sure soon enough we will get everything we need" Yoshiki said, before standing up, bringing us up with him, "for now we have the second floor to explore." As we leave I see the others, making note of the pairs; Danny with Kenta, Haruna and Veliah, James and Evan, Yukihiro with Akira, and Kojiro and Alan.

"Ah, I want to check the bulletin board before we go," I say trying to walk us all over to it, thankfully the two followed.

 _ **The Bulletin Board**_

 _ **1\. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.**_

 _ **2\. "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**_

 _ **3\. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly.**_

 _ **4\. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.**_

 _ **5\. Violence against headmaster, and teachers is strictly prohibited**_

 _ **6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.**_

 _ **7\. Using only your own abilities, and not outside forces, can you take the Monokuma-handcuff off.**_

 _ **8\. More rules may be added if necessary.**_

"Number 7 is different," I say, "so if we can find a key or something then we can escape." We both look at the cuffs, they were large and thick and had no chain to distance them, so we were very limited in movement.

"I don't think so, these cuffs don't have a key hole," Yoshiki said, inspecting them, "were stuck."

"That's what you think," M says before we hear a gross 'POP', I stare in disgust at him wriggling his hand out and popping his thumb back in place, "I'm free to go."

"Don't do that, you could hurt yourself," Yoshiki scolds, "what if it didn't go back in right, you might get arthritis popping your fingers like that." M scoffs and leaves before Yoshiki could scold him more.

"I guess this is better, at least I have a hand free now," I said as we left the gym and headed to the cafeteria. After spending all of our time there for the first motive, everyone agreed it would be the most sensible meeting place. Clunking the free handcuff on the table I roll my wrist, being tied to someone strong like M really took the majority of the weight off me, now I have a ball and chain bringing me down.

"We should see a mono-teacher about removing that since it isn't in use anymore," Yoshiki persuades.

"Nah it's fine," I say, it would be to much of a bother and we were already holding up the meeting with our talking, but under Yoshiki stern gaze I promised to do it later.

"Ok, so the new floor is open, since we are already in pairs we can explore at our own freedom," Kenta said, drawing attention to him, "the clocks are back, and on our way here I didn't see any postings about door timers, so I don't believe we need to worry about getting trapped and starving to death, haha!.. anyways meet back here at... 3 o'clock- 4 at the latest- that should give you about 4-5 hours to explore and that's about it." Everyone began to disperse out the door. despite being stuck in pairs people still managed to find their friends and travel in a clustered group.

"Do you..uh...think the second floor is the same as it was in the broadcast of the first killing game?" I hear Danny hesitantly ask Akira, and gets a simple shrug in reply.

Me and Yoshiki continue up the stairs before pausing, "it's been a long time since I was last here," Yoshiki sighs, "there's a classroom up a head, we can ask about the cuffs there." We go to the door of classroom 2A and find Alan and Kojiro as well.

"We want to check the room out, see if we can find anything," Kojiro explains, and we file in.

"Sup... I'm Mono-teacher 42...and this is 2A," the Mono-teacher was sprawled out in their chair.

"One of us got out of the chains and we were wondering if you could take it off since it's just dead weight now," Yoshiki explains, 42 lazily stands up and slowly comes over. They grab the hanging cuff and fiddle with it, twisting it over and my arm in the process, before dropping it and almost taking me down with it.

"Yeah there's nothing I can do," it laughs, before pushing Yoshiki, "I'm just playing with you, only the one wearing the cuffs can take them off," Yoshiki did not like that and went to push back, "ah-ah, don't want to get punished for breaking such a stupid rule do you?" With a glare Yoshiki grabbed my hand and pulled me out.

"Let's go we have plenty of other things to do then talk to deadbeats like this," Yoshiki said, before dragging us out the door, "I can't believe that."

"What did you think was going to happen?" Alan scoffs, walking out the door. Alan seemed... off, like he was angry but happy at the same time, if that makes sense. Kojiro stumbled out, shutting the door with a wide eyed, dazed expression. With a aggravated huff Alan pulled Kojiro away faster, both disappearing down the stairs.

"What happened to them?" I ask.

"Who?" Yoshiki stopped, "oh, maybe that Monokuma teacher insulted them too?"

"Perhaps," I mumble, "let's go to the pool next, I haven't been to one since before the tragedy began." So we set off, there were two rooms that led to the pool, a boys and girls changing room. They were both guarded by a female and male mono-teacher, equal in muscle and intimidation.

"Females only," the girls' changing room guard (the GCRG, my mind dubs) stated harshly, she seemed to tower over us.

"Men may come through this way," the BCRG (that's too similar, maybe BCG instead... Wow, nicknames are hard to make) stepped away from the door and allowed us in. The room looked no different from before, so we went into the pool part and that was a mistake. It was hot and uncomfortably humid, I started sweating the moment I went in, it seems like jackets and indoor pools do not mix. I want to take my jacket off but it's not worth the trouble it'd cause, so I looked around the room and saw Haruna and Veliah, Haruna was trying to get the other to follow her somewhere and it looked like Veliah wasn't having it. With a huff, Haruna stopped -Veliah obviously relieved- and stared at the water before perking up, it was like watching a video of live news bloopers, you can see the mistake coming and feel the second they realize the mistake but the anticipation was still real.

"Cannonball!" Haruna screamed the same time Veliah let out a pleading "NO," Haruna jumped as high as she could and hit with a raining splash, Veliah was jerked in after her with a angry yell, her cape bellowing out behind her.

"I can't believe you, I said I didn't want to swim!" Veliah flailed in the water as Haruna cackled like a little kid. They were both soaking wet, and Haruna's usually lightly curly hair was stuck to her looking like a wet sheepdog, "We don't even have bathing suits!"

"Hey we're already wet, we can swim now!" Haruna said excitedly, Veliah's glare could kill, "You guys can join us!" She yelled waving to us.

"I'm good," I said, "besides we've got more to explore," Yoshiki and I quickly left before we could get roped in.

"We have the library next, and I doubt we need to see the other classroom," I say looking around, in the library we met the pairs of James and Evan, along with Yukihiro and Akira. All four were reading books though some more interested then others. They were all sitting down and reading, except James who was precariously seated on a stack of books having a long one sided conversation with a annoyed Evan.

"Hey, did you find anything?" I ask Yukihiro and by proxy Akira.

"Not really, but these books we found are wonderful," Yukihiro exclaimed, she tried to pick up a book from a stack but ended up toppling the whole thing. It was a chain reaction, the stack knocking over others like dominoes until it reached James's impromptu chair taking him and Evan down. With a wince Yukihiro turned away from the spetical and back to me, "I've always been clumsy, and being tied to someone just makes me worse!" She said solemnly.

"It's ok, it's the same for everyone," I say quickly.

"Yes, it's no trouble being with you," Akira chimes in, in case Yukihiro starts to think herself a burden.

"There really isn't much else to explore, do you want to stay here and read?" Yoshiki asks me, I agree and look for a seat.

"You can take ours," Yukihiro offers, when I see that none are left, "Akira-sama is kindly indulging me by allowing me to drag her around to clean."

"Cleaning, huh," I guess some people really do find cleaning relaxing, or it's just her SHSL maid instincts taking over at the sight of this dusty library. I have a sudden urge to help her with it, should I hang out with Yukihiro today? Yes, "Yoshiki, do you mind if we help her out? I heard it can be calming to clean."

"Why not," he agrees, and we go to help Yukihiro and Akira. We both had a few inches of height on the girls so we got high shelves book duty. In my book filing I found a 'multipurpose' book? In curiosity of what multipurpose things it talks of, I open it. The book is full of promotions for dresses, cooking recipes, cleaning tips, music charts, and a jewelry catalog... This is certainly multipurpose, I give the book to Yukihiro.

"Oh, multipurpose?" She reads confused.

"It's all about jewelry and clothes and cooking," I list.

"Certainly a broad range in here," she says setting the book aside, "I might read it later, with the apocalypse and everything I found it's hard to come by such mundane things like this."

"I enjoy Mun-'plane' things too," Akira cracks a smile at her own joke.

"Pfft, I didn't expect you could crack a joke like that," Yukihiro laughs. It looks like Yukihiro is having fun, maybe this handcuff thing isn't so bad, at least it's making people get to know others they wouldn't usually be around. After that we all busied ourselves with cleaning the library, taking breaks every now and then to show off weird book we managed to find.

"What got you into being a maid?" I ask Yukihiro when things started to wind down and we were running out of things to clean.

"It just felt natural, I've been taking care of others my whole life so it looked like the perfect fit, looking out for others is just what I do," she reminisced, a pained expression flashed on her, "though I ruined that ideology pretty good, got caught up in the moment of the tragedy and lost something important."

"What did you lose?" I ask, curious.

"My sister..." she whispered, "I spent my whole life caring for them, being the big sister I was supposed to be. My parents were always busy with work so I would cook, clean, get money when I could to help take care of them. My twin sister, her name is Yamimi, and Mikio my little brother, they're all fine -thank god for that- but my youngest sister, Michiko went missing because of me, I chased her away when I was in despair," Yukihiro movements slowed as she got lost in thought.

'Despair?' My mind stopped at that word, was Yukihiro a remnant of despair? No that's not possible, I think I would know if she was.

"But that doesn't matter anymore, that was in the past and all that matters is that I'm trying to fix it now," she said optimistically, her green eyes scrunched by her smile, "when I get out I'll find my sister and make things right."

"That's a good goal to have," Akira added in, "maybe when we get out we can all help you find her."

"Yeah, count me in," James said, "how about you Evan?"

Evan gave an annoyed hum at the question and reluctantly set down his book, "If it comes to that, I'll consider it."

We spent the rest of the day talking peacefully in the library, it wasn't until it began to get late we realized we had a dilemma, "Oh, how are we going to sleep!" Yukihiro exclaimed to Akira.

Akira thought for a moment, "We could get my blankets and pillows I'll sleep on the floor next to your bed and you could hang your arm over."

"As good of a plan as that is, I don't know if I'd be able to do that," Yukihiro said apologetically.

"It's fine because you won't have to!" A voice said behind us, it was mono-teacher 55, it was strangely nice to see he wasn't wiped out like 21, "At night time the cuffs will be released from each other so that's the only privacy you'll get!" I heard a few happy cheers at that, "and in the morning you'll have five minutes to get back to your partner or suffer the effects of the cuffs!" With a wave of his hand the night time announcement sounded and the cuffs let out a beep, unhooking our hands. After that everyone went to their rooms ecstatic at having their alone time. Flopping on my bed I observed the deadweight stuck to my wrists, the cuffs were actually quite stylish-if a bit bulky and rudimentary- it was half white and black with a count down of 9 hours and 4 minutes scrolling across it in red LED lights. It must be counting down the time until mourning when something will happen, I wonder what 55 meant by 'suffer the effects'? With a yawn I start to doze off, I'm still too tired from the first motive to think about something like that.

* * *

 **Those cuffs sound familiar ;) well I'm a little bit late, sorry about that, and I was really hoping I could stick to my goal! :/ anyways this chapter is a bit shorter then I wanted but I like it still so might as well post it before I start to hate it!**


	11. Chapter 2: Let's go swimming!

I woke up with a yawn and looked at the new clock in my room seeing that I woke up almost a hour before the morning announcement, blearily I roll over and revel in the fact I wasn't moved to some suspicious location while I was a sleep. I was kinda thirsty and debated if it was worth it or not to go to the cafateria, when a angry pounding came from my door making the decision for me. I open it to barely avoid Haruna's swinging fist, "Hey."

"Good your awake," she said grabbing both my arms, "get dressed in this and meet at the pool asap," shocked at the uncharacteristicly serious message I take the clothes.

"What's wrong," I ask, but before I could get a answer she ran off to bang on the others doors. I hold up what she had given me, it was... swim trunks? I look out the door and see others holding similar bathing suits and Haruna before she takes off down the hallway and out of sight.

"The morning bell hasn't even rung yet," Kenta sighs before shutting his door. I go back into my room and wonder if I should really go along with Haruna's idea, it sounds like it could be fun and I haven't been in (heck, even seen) a pool since before the tragedy. I get into the swim wear and throw my jacket back on in case I get cold, also to hide my pathetically scrawny body. I exit my room and lock the door behind me with my extra key before tying it back on my wrist and talking to the others coming out of their rooms.

"Hey Yoshiki, you going swimming?" I ask, though the question was redundant considering he was still full clothed.

"As fun as it sounds I'm not much of one for water," he replies, "by the way, about the cuffs is yours still counting down?"

"Yeah, its at.." I read my cuff, "like 45 minutes, counting down."

"Mine says the same, and I must admit I'm apprehensive as to what happens at zero," Yoshiki says showing his cuff to me, it had the same time as mine, "I remember that eccentric mono-teacher mentioning something about 'suffering the effects', if we don't reconnect in time," Yoshiki pondered for a moment before deciding to speak, "I want to connect the handcuffs and see how the timer reacts."

"Sure," I reply, shrugging. I hold the left cuff out to Yoshiki's, for a second nothing happens then with a beep and a click the cuffs flashed red before the timer blinked off, "well the timer is off now, so I guess that proves it was a count down until we connect." After that we were on our way to the pool only to encounter Danny and Kenta by the stairs, their cuffs disconnected.

"Wait, you should really connect-,"

I cut Yoshiki off in a hushed tone, "Wait, don't tell them," Yoshiki gives me a shocked look, "if they don't want to connect then don't make them, we don't know what the cuffs do past the time limit, this the best time to see the effects of the cuffs."

"We are not doing that," Yoshiki said sternly, "Kenta, Danny, the cuffs countdown is a time limit to connect the cuffs."

"Oh, I wonder what happens if we don't reconnect them?" Kenta wondered aloud, a smile stretching on his face, "I think I'll stay unconnected and find out."

"No, we are not, you could die," Danny replied and tried to connect the cuffs only for Kenta to raise his hand out of reach with a laugh, "seriously, do you really want to do this."

"Aw come on it was only a little fun!" Kenta said, before heading up the stairs, "now lets go swimming!"

With a huff Danny went to follow but I stopped him, "I have an extra cuff if you don't want to deal with him," I offer.

"Thanks but I don't want to bother you, you already have one arm tied up," Danny replied, "besides If I do that then I'd be abandoning Kenta to the effects, it's not right."

"Noble reasoning," Yoshiki committed looking pointedly at me, "it is not right to abandon others to the effects."

"I get it, I get it," I say rolling my eyes, I did feel a little guilty now that I've been called out. all three of us went up stairs and to the changing room the BCG let us through and considering we all were already in swimsuits or resolved not to swim we passed on through quickly. In the pool we were met by everyone, I noticed that the girls swimsuit and the boys trunks (mine included) were all the same dull generic school blue. Akira and Yukihiro were sitting idle on the side of the pool, their feet hanging in the water, Akira had her thick black hair in a ponytail out of the water while Yukihiro's was already soaked from a chocolate brown to a black. M, surprisingly was swimming as well, he looked rather comical doing a backstroke with his unmoved blank face, and still bandaged right arm. I was relieved to note that Kenta and Danny had joined cuff so the possibility of them both dying has decreased, they were both playing a sort of three armed version of volleyball ball with a enthusiastic Haruna and a begrudgingly happy Veliah. Kojiro and Alan walk in behind us, they were both unconnected.

"Hey, you two should connect the cuffs," I recommend, "we don't have much time left," I think, I haven't checked but I feels like some time has passed.

"I don't care right now," Alan quickly replied, side eyeing me, "besides if I link up or whatever I won't be able to change back into my regular clothes until night time." Alan has a very good point, if I had known it would be so long until I go back to regular clothes I wouldn't have done it.

"Hmm, how about you Kojiro?" I ask the other, "if Alan doesn't want to do it I have a extra cuff."

"Sure!" Kojiro seemed excited at the offer "You know what they say, birds of a feather stick together!" He laughed clicking the cuffs together, with a beep and a flash they sealed together. Suddenly Evan came in, silently fuming and dragging a foldable chair, he sat far off out of the way in a corner and began to read a book. It was obvious he didn't want anyone to talk to him so everyone kept their distance. Then a few minutes later James walked in, tan skin for all to see in his swim suit, and jumped into the pool, looked around and then he waddled through the water to M. M didn't bat an eye to him or to his long conversation, so it was surprising when he replied to edge James monologues on, I don't think James even expected it but he was happy to keep talking and It was soon revealed that Evan was angry at him and refusing to rejoin the cuffs.

"Maybe I should go talk to him?" James reasoned.

"Do it," Kenta affirmed excited and before anyone could stop him, James was talking incessantly with a agitated Evan. James fate was sealed when he asked what he did wrong.

"Because you're annoying," Evan said angrily, rounding on James. Bewildered, James stumbles back, his blue eyes wide, "All you ever do is talk, and talk, and talk-there's no end to it, I understand you just want someone to talk to but I'm not that person!" Evan was breathing heavily, his face sweaty and pale, "and I... don't feel so well..."

"Whoa, man, no need to get so worked up," James said apprehensively.

"No... I really don't feel so well..." Evan started to wobble, hand clutching over his heart. Unexpectedly it was James who went down first, followed by Evan and suddenly Alan as well. We were near them so luckily we caught Evan and James before they could hit the ground and get seriously hurt.

"What's going on!" Yukihiro yelled panicked, holding a unconscious Alan out of the pool. Yoshiki and I hurry over to them and pull him out setting him down on the concrete. Akira hoisted herself out quickly, water dripping from her thick black hair, and checked him over. Yukihiro got out as well to give Akira better mobility.

"He's alive, but his breathing's faint," Akira assessed, her and Yukihiro then went to check on the rest who passed out, "they are all still alive, just unconscious."

"What happened?" Danny asked, both him and Kenta wading over to the ladder and joined us.

"Their cuffs are blinking," Kenta pointed out the black and white cuffs on those of us unconscious was blinking red with LED, "maybe that's what caused it?"

"The only ones unconscious are those who were not connected," M interjected, "was this the effects the mono-teacher talked of?"

"Wonderful deduction..." a mono-teacher said approaching us, it was that lazy one, 42, "your buddies will be... down for the count for the next... uh.. 5 hours."

"Seriously?" Yoshiki asked, "that long, we need some one to watch them."

"Yeah, 5 hours unattended and unconscious is just too dangerous," Akira agrees, "we should take them to the infirmary in case something else happened."

"45 the cuffs caused this, right?" I ask 45, "will they be ok?"

"Obviously... it's the effects... and they will be fine, if you count complete and total helplessness as fine... a nice motivator," 45 sighed, "if you didn't connect before the time ran out... you get knocked out by the drugs in the cuffs," they gave a wave and headed out, "there's nothing else to explain... later." We spent some time trying to figure out how to transport three large men before just giving up and dragging them to the infirmary. Setting them on the beds we discussed who should watch them first, Akira volunteered first due to her having the most medical knowledge in case something goes wrong.

"Me and Sanyu and Kojiro can do it," Yoshiki said, "second shift and fifth."

"Agreed, so Akira and Yukihiro have first shift, Me, Kojiro and Yoshiki second, Danny and Kenta third, and then it loops," I clarify, then agreeing that each shift would last a hour or so. After that Me and Yoshiki had time to kill, so we chatted in the cafateria getting lunch while we were at it.

"Yesterday Kenta talked about how the door timers are gone, do you think they were just part of the first motive?" I ask, making conversation.

"I'm not sure?" Kojiro admitted, "seems like it."

"I assume so also, and you mentioned that one of the rules had changed," Yoshiki replied, "It was the door timer rule that changed to the new motive, it's too early to tell but maybe it changes with the motive."

"So what happened with the others?" Came the loud voice of Haruna as she burst through the doors, she was still wet from the pool and so was Veliah.

"We should have helped, I'm sorry," Veliah apologized, "but someone wouldn't leave the pool."

Haruna let out a laugh, "Cool it V, they had it covered!"

"Yeah, Veliah its fine," I reassure.

"If you want to help out still, Akira and Yukihiro are watching over them in the infirmary right now," Yoshiki informs, Veliah nods a thank you.

"I want to eat first though!" Haruna complains, "all this action has made me hungry... besides who wants to spend their time in a stuffy hospital room."

"It will only be for a little while, just to see if we can help out," Veliah reasoned, only to be met by Haruna putting her arms in a x shape and shouting.

"Denied!"

Veliah looked taken aback by the action before steeling herself and all but dragged Haruna out. The two working against each other, Veliah pulling out the door with heavy stomps and Haruna screeching her shoes as she pushed away. Veliah won the duel and the two disappeared out the door.

"What a duo," M said, setting a platter of sandwiches down, "glad I'm not on those things anymore, I even lost my own handcuff."

"Well you've been replaced anyways," I say, "can I have a sandwich?"

"No." M replied, taking a bite.

* * *

We met Yukihiro and Akira in the infirmary, Haruna and Veilah already with them. The first watch passed with no problem and so did ours, it was largely uninteresting even when we swapped out with Danny and Kenta. We went to get another snack and hit up the library to get some books to read on our shift and when it was our turn again, the fifth and final shift, James began to wake up slowly.

"What happened?" He asked with a exaggerated yawn, "weren't we in the pool?"

"You passed out because of the handcuffs," Kojiro informed, yawning from boredom.

"Oh yeah, I assume that's what happened to Evan and Alan?" James crossed his arms behind his head and laid back down.

"That's correct, and they should be waking up soon," Yoshiki mentioned before going back to reading. Only a few minutes had passed before Evan woke up, and James had fallen back asleep.

"Hey, you're the second one up," I say to the bed head and tired looking Evan.

"I feel like I was just asleep, but for some reason I'm still absolutely exhausted," he mumbled before flopping back down on the bed, passing out cold.

"He's asleep again, I guess the drug that made them pass out makes you tired?" Yoshiki observed.

"There's no need to watch us anymore," Alan suddenly spoke up, making me jump in surprise, "better yet, I'll just go to my room," with a quick motion Alan was out the door and supposedly to his room.

"Well I guess there's no reason to stay anymore," I say to the others, "they're only sleeping now and not under the effects of some mysterious drug."

"Yeah I'm done watching these guys," Kojiro adds, "let's just go hang out in the cafeteria with the other guys!" With majority vote we went to the cafeteria finding everyone present (except for James and Evan of course). Kojiro set us near Kenta and Yukihiro and surprisingly Alan.

"I thought you went to your room?" I ask curious.

"I was hungry, being unconscious for 5 hours does that," Alan dully replied back.

"About that, are Danny and Evan not awake?" Yukihiro asked, hesitantly.

"They woke up but went back to sleep, and we're are all here anyways so there's nothing to worry about," Kojiro said striking up a conversation with the rest of the table, mostly to Yukihiro, and Kenta. I noticed that Alan wasn't really paying attention, unfocused and daydreaming. I started to talk to him while everyone else talked on.

"What're you thinking about?" I ask, Alan broke out of his thoughts and regarded me before responding.

"I've seen more expression in paint drying than on your face," Alan tsks, "but you can really pry out information."

"I mean I didn't ask you to tell me your life story," I reply, "you don't have to tell me anything."

Alan gave me a accusing look, "that's your magic though, you say you don't want to hear it and so it makes people want to tell you, like there's no pressure on what to say."

"There's no need to feel pressure with anyone here," I gesture to the others.

"Ah wait you misunderstand, I'm not pressured at all- in fact I find myself a bit underwhelmed by your presence- I just don't feel the need to talk to any of you," Alan corrected before settling back into his seat, "...You never went to Hope's Peak, right?"

"Oh..uh, yeah, I never accepted the invitation," I explain briefly.

"I never even got accepted, used to think it was unfair with how hard I worked, but it makes sense now," he said.

"You did chemistry right?" I thought back on the first trial.

"Yeah, I used to envy those in the main course. Hope's Peak was a guarantee that you would succeed in your future, but for us reserve course it was a reminder of what we could never reach."

"Well there isn't much of a future now," I say trying to lighten the mood.

"Thanks Sanyu," Alan said sarcastically, "Maybe I'll tell you more about myself later, but only if you tell me something," he said, "we've got a common past Sanyu, maybe we can work together?"

"On what exactly?" I ask, hesitant to see what he meant.

"On a party," Alan replies before getting everyone's attention, "I think we should have a party," Alan tells the rest of the table, "to get to know each other in a fun setting."

"That sounds like a great plan," Kojiro agreed quickly, with that affirmation of one everyone else began to follow and soon it was decided we were to have a party.

"I'll do the food and drinks," Alan volunteers.

"I can help," Yukihiro says.

"Don't worry Yukihiro I can do it myself," Alan replies almost instantly, "you should focus on having fun."

Yukihiro studied him before giving in, "Ok I will, thank you Alan-sama." Yukihiro was probably disappointed that she didn't get the main maid-like job.

"I wonder if we can get music!" Haruna shouts, "I'll ask the mono-teachers if we can play some tunes on the intercoms!"

"I don't know if they'd do that," Veliah says to herself, "but considering I'm stuck to you I don't have a choice." Soon everyone had their roles, me and Yoshiki getting the job of party manager by making sure everyone came and if they got their job done. The rest of the day continued on normally until it was night time, the announcement ringing for the time change.

"There's a mono-teacher right there," Kojiro pointed out, so the three of us approached them and had our cuffs removed.

"I think I saw Danny and Kenta back there looking for a mono-teacher, we should get them and tell them there's one here," I say. Yoshiki and me went to find them, Kojiro going to his room. Soon we found them crouched behind a corner, pressed against the wall and peeking over to see something.

"What are you doing?" I ask, Danny jumped and whipped around to face me with wide eyes.

"Sanyu, don't sneak up on people like that," he sighed, "and to answer your question you better ask Kenta."

"Haruna and Yukihiro are talking about something, something they didn't want anyone else to hear," Kenta shushed suddenly, "maybe it's their crushes, that's what girls talk about right?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny said sarcastically.

"I don't think so," I reply the same time as Yoshiki.

"Hey maybe it's one of you two she likes, haha," Kenta said kidding, his voice neutral but eyes in a different emotion.

"I'm a 48 year old man I'm not going to eavesdrop on a girls conversation to see who she likes," Yoshiki said stiffly, "besides, I'm married and have a kid."

"Really, you're 48?!" Kenta looked surprised, but recovered with a smug smile, "my you're so old, almost 50, I can see the gray hairs!"

"Who let's a old man like you on this trip," Danny wondered, "you could get hurt, even before the killing game we would have been doing heavy lifting and sore work," Danny's good intentions were lost on the others.

"When I was selected for this trip I didn't expect it to be filled with immature teenagers," Yoshiki deadpanned.

"I'm 22," Kenta replied, "I'm no teenager." Yoshiki scoffed and shook his head at the answer before leaving to his room.

"I'm going to bed," Danny said with a yawn, he started walking but was stopped by the hesitating Kenta still listening with apt attention. Danny tugged on the cuff, "hey, I want to go to bed," Kenta looked up, startled at the interference before regaining his composure.

"I'm just messing with you, let's go," Kenta chuckled and so the two left to find a mono-teacher to unlock the cuffs for the night. I stood in the now empty hall the lights shutting off on me leaving the place completely dark... why did I even come here!?

* * *

 **Does this count as the beach episode? B) Got pretty close there, but I got it out before the month ended!**

 **beta notes: i swear to god she knows her mistakes and makes me correct them because she is lazy**

 **And I have a question for you: which character do you like the most so far?**


	12. Chapter 2: Party 'til the end!

I woke up a hour before the morning announcement once again, it's always been a problem for me to stay asleep and with the killing game this habit has only worsened. With a yawn I roll out of bed and freshen up before crashing again, my handcuff was slowly counting down, I suddenly had the thought of what would have happened if Kojiro hadn't joined with me. If you pass out if the cuffs are not connected then does that mean I would have been knocked out because M no longer had his cuff? That question stemmed into another, I had connected cuffs with Kojiro not M so that must mean we don't have to stick to certain people but can switch out. That information could solve a few problems, with how people were fighting and getting annoyed at each other, I'll have to tell the others later. I started to think about the party as well, I wonder if it will be fun? I haven't been to a party in... actually I don't think I've ever been to a party not a real one at least, a few small 'sneaking out of the house in the dead of night to go to drag races for my birthday and being back before dad sobers up' shindigs lead by my brother, but nothing else. I felt myself get a little giddy at what was to come, I wonder what kind of foods will be there? Drinks, decorations, games? I'm getting more and more excited, 7 am can't come soon enough. And it did not, for a long time I laid in my bed waiting for the morning announcement and left a few minutes before it came. As I locked my door and checked for my extra key I saw Akira step into the hallway.

"Hey," greeted Akira as she locked her door, "you woke up early."

"Yeah couldn't sleep well," I admitted, "besides if I slept any longer I'd have a 5 hour unplanned nap," She smiled a little at my joke, "anyways we should meet up with our partners before time runs out," Akira nodded for me to go first and the two of us headed to the cafeteria. With a little worry I noted that everyone had their partner, and that my second cuff was left unaccounted for.

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!" The announcement suddenly sounded, but we continued on anyways.

"With M gone I don't have anyone for my extra cuff," I explain, the three seemed to notice the problem immediately.

"What did you do yesterday?" Akira asks.

"I connected with Kojiro, we are able to switch out pairs with others," I explain, they looked intrigued by that.

"We aren't connected yet, one of us can join you," Yukihiro volunteers. I felt thankful for the offer but I couldn't do that to them, have one of them suffer the effects for me.

"I can't do that, if Yoshiki doesn't mind I could just go along with it," I felt bad at taking Yoshiki down with me too, but he didn't look like the kind of guy to throw someone else under the bus, "I mean everyone was fine from yesterday."

"But we can't be sure how double the dosage will affect you," Akira warns, "you're obviously not as healthy as Alan, James, or Evan, so this might kill you." Akira was right if I go without connecting at all I'll take twice the amount, if connect only one I'll still pass out and then be stuck to someone, but if one of the girls connect then they'll go down instead.

"You're fine with me crashing right?" Yoshiki spoke up, "what if I don't connect and the two ladies join you?" I felt my face heat up at the suggestion, two attractive girls hanging on both arms, how scandalous...

"You're not thinking anything weird, right." Akira eyes narrowed in suspicion, crossing her arms in an intimidating way.

"Huh? No way!" I deny, nervously putting my hands up in surrender, "let's just connect before time runs out," the girls got on either side and with a clack were now handcuffed to me.

"I'm going to just lock myself in my room," Yoshiki said as he waved to us before heading out of the cafateria.

"Hey Sanyu, is there anything you need us to do?" Danny asked coming up to us. I had almost forgotten I was supposed to be one of the supervisors, I didn't know where to even start (and my co supervisor has left or is out cold). "You and Kenta can... set up the room, move tables to make room to move around in," that's what parties need right?

"How about us?" James and Evan asked next, it was nice to see they were working together now, the tension was still there but on a lesser scale.

"We need plates and cups, so check out the storage room," I tell them, remembering the parties I've seen on T.V.

"Me and V are going to see if we can play music," Haruna said loudly.

"And me and Kojiro are doing food and drinks," Alan said.

"That's a lot of work for just two guys," Yukihiro worried, "we would be happy to help you."

"Yeah, I guess we can help," I say looking between the two, "that is a lot of work."

"Hey M, what do you want to do?" James asked the other.

"I'll help you two I guess," M shrugged, I didn't have any more ideas so I figured I could leave M to his own devices. In a big team huddle (forcibly led and encouraged by Haruna) we put our hands in then swung them out dispersing into our jobs. We took a step back and In a masterful display Yukihiro's foot slipped into a prefect high kick before falling backwards, the action jerked me down as well, Akira's body shifted into a strong stance and with a quick reaction caught us both before we hit the ground.

"I need to adjust my speed with Sanyu now," Akira mumbled to herself.

"Sorry Sanyu-sama, I'm sure you already know how clumsy I get, and Akira-sama is a real angel being able to catch me before I get hurt," Yukihiro apologized, "I really don't like troubling you like this."

"I don't mind it," Akira replied reassuring, "but you really should stop falling for me," Akira snickered at her pun. Yukihiro rolled her eyes but smiled anyways, I feel like a third wheel in this friend group. We were then shooed off in the kitchen to make room for the tables and to start making food. Yukihiro, like a pro, began to set up party dishes, in the end we had a fun diverse little snack selection, although somehow we ended up with 3 whole platters with different types of sandwiches.

"Why so many sandwiches?" I ask, are sandwiches a big party snack?

"M asked for them," she replied, "I think he's obsessed with them."

"Hey are you doing requests on food?" Kojiro inquired, "because I would like some punch- purple punch."

"You mean like grape punch?" Akira asked.

"Yeah," Kojiro said, "ha, I forgot the name for a second there!" With Kojiro's recommendation we started making the drinks, in the end we made two large bowls of sherbet with ginger ale and one of grape punch.

"The tables are all set up," M informed us from the doorway.

"Can you guys take out the food that's already done?" Alan asked, I nodded sure and the three of us took a platter and managed to get them on the snack table with out any spills. After we set the table Kojiro and Alan came out with the punch and a cake too!

"You made cake?" I ask.

"Obviously," Alan rolled his eyes.

"Nice," I could feel the sparkles shining in my eyes. Our conversation was then cut short by a low bass rumble, it was very unsettling feeling for the school to vibrate before leading up to a chorus. My heart thumped to the loud beat playing over the speakers, it must have been turned up all the way it was so loud. There was a range of reactions to the music (if you could call it that) from people covering their ears to tapping with the beat.

"What is that sound!" Danny cried, "It's terrible!"

"You don't you recognize this melody," Kojiro shouted over the unholy screeching, "this is an Ibuki Mioda song, Let My Feeling's Reach You Too!"

"Who recommend this?" Kenta winced, "its a bit... much."

"I don't care who recommended this!" Akira yelled just to make her voice heard, "Just turn it down!"

Haruna was laughing like a maniac, hand gripping her stomach. Veliah was staring flatly at the scene with a drawn out sigh. I don't know what everyone was complaining about, I found the song rather interesting... and Ibuki Mioda, where have I heard that name before? Oh well... I'm sure I'll remember later. Soon the... unique song was over and I began to get hungry.

"I want something to drink," I told the other two, Akira agreed but Yukihiro stopped us.

"Can we get something to eat first?" She asked. The sandwiches did look good and considering how M was packing them away, if I don't act soon I won't get any.

Working in tandem Akira and I grab some sandwiches, "when did you wake up?" I ask Yoshiki.

"I just got here but-" He cut himself off with a yawn, "Excuse me- I woke up a few minutes ago, and figured there was no need to stay in there and let you have all the fun." And so Yoshiki joined us in on our conversation.

"Who do you think we would have ended up with had Grant and Yuzuru been alive?" I ask.

"You shouldn't think about stuff like that," Yoshiki warned, "you'll only make your self depressed."

"I guess you're right..." I sighed, "-but I would have ended up with Yuzuru right? I mean he'd probably kill the guy who got me and take their place."

Yoshiki pursed his lips in a judgmental expression, "Sanyu, what the hell."

"That's... not something people usually look for in a person," Yukihiro said hesitantly, "but an interesting choice in romantic interests." I start to ask her what she meant by that only to be cut off by a loud shout.

"Ow!" I turned to see what had happened, "this stuff burns," Veliah was rubbing her arms and scratching her neck in pain, her clothes were wet from something being spilled on her.

"Maybe you're allergic to the grape punch?" Haruna supplied. Veliah thought for a monument before admitting she didn't know, "Well, your scratching is annoying so let's go to bathroom and try to wash it off," as she said that Haruna briefly looked at me before heading out to the bathroom.

"Hey Sanyu-sama I think I want some grape punch now," Yukihiro said suddenly, already leading us to the drink table.

"Yeah that sounds pretty good," Akira agrees reaching for a cup.

"No! uh... I mean I worked so hard on the sherbet punch," Yukihiro smiled, already pouring a cup for her, "um... here let me get you a...napkin!" Yukihiro quickly stretched over the table, in the process putting to much pressure on one side, with a squill the table broke the drinks busting and spilling everywhere, "Gahh!" The loud commotion brought the attention of everyone who came over to help us up. I was wet but thankfully we managed to avoid most of the sticky drinks.

"Gross, now I have to wait until we get uncuffed to take a shower," I complained.

"We can't use showers at night," Akira said sadly, "the water shuts off..." Everyone had made a wide circle surrounding us, wanting to help but also not wanting to step in the mess. I felt like dying every time I took a step and my shoes stuck to the floor.

"What happened to the drinks?" Kojiro asked angrily at first, then mumbled sadly, "I was thirsty..."

"I guess we will just have to make more," James said shrugging.

"It's fine I had some more prepared in the back," Alan said, Kojiro and him walk off into the kitchen and reappearing minutes later holding a new bowl of Yukihiro's sherbet punch, "this is all that's left..." Alan said narrowing his eyes.

"Oops, I guess I put everything out the first time," Yukihiro said bashfully, "I guess what they say is true, don't put all your eggs in one basket."

"It's ok," Akira said, "the cups are still clean and all we really need is sherbet punch, and we could set out water if anyone doesn't like that."

"And this is mostly just to get to know each other anyway, we don't really need refreshments," Danny added. So we talk until I hear a loud clunk and a shatter.

"M-my cuff!" Kojiro shouted holding up the cracked handcuff now disjoined from Alan, "wasn't I- That's not supposed to happen?" Kojiro stumbled back, gripping on to the table in confusion before passing out with a thud.

"Oooh, that's gotta hurt," Haruna cringed.

"I guess that explains what happens when you disconnect the cuffs before the time," Yoshiki observed, "I'll take him to the infirmary like before."

"What about Alan?" Kenta asked gesturing to the unconscious man in a chair.

"Since you asked, you can take him," Yoshiki assigned, Kenta tsks before getting Danny to help him. Soon the three came back and the party resumed as much as it could with two people passed out.

"Why don't we play a game," James suggested.

"That's sounds like fun, what do you have in mind," M suddenly spoke up. I almost jumped at his sudden appearance wondering where he came from, but considering no one else was shocked to see him, I must have just overlooked him. Maybe I should go talk to M later?

"Beer pon-"

"No."

"twister?"

"Not with these handcuffs"

"...darts?"

"Darts? Do we have any?"

"We could throw knives," M substituted, "I could show you how, it's easy."

"It's bad enough with the motive, we are not about to train each other to kill better," Evan leveled. M looked disappointed... I think.

"Better luck next time," James said, "any other ideas?"

"I have some cards," Danny said, pulling out the deck of cards I had given him before, it was nice to see he still had them, "I could do some magic? Or we could just play with them."

"Magic does sound like fun, but it's better if we do something that involves us all," Akira said, "any ideas?"

"Strip Poker-"

"Ok you can't suggest anymore."

"Charades!"

"What? That's not a card game,"

"Uno?"

"Better, but these are the wrong type of cards."

"How about spoons?"

"How do you play?"

"Spoons? I think I've heard of it, all you need is a deck of cards and some spoons," Evan remembered, "I'll tell you the rules..." and after a explanation we began to play, the game was fun but after the second time playing it we began to get bored and tension began to rise.

"Hey you're cheating," Haruna accused, pointing M out.

"I am a skilled assassin," M boasted, "if I were to cheat you wouldn't notice."

"Then you're a pretty shitty assassin if I could notice your bold face cheating," Haruna challenged.

"Don't ever insult my abilities," M spoke icily, his eyes sharp.

"M! I'll bet you a whole platter of sandwiches if you... cut the cake with these skills of yours!" Yukihiro suddenly spoke, trying to defuse the tension. Abruptly M stood up, armed with the deck, M flicked his wrist and within seconds the cards were buried in the cake, effectively (though badly) cutting the cake, nonetheless the bet was won.

"That was pretty cool," James said, now getting a slice from the un-damage side, "nice, chocolate!"

"Your really good at that, did your parents teach you?" I asked.

"I was abandoned as a baby," M began.

"Ah I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" I tried to apologize for my rude question, but was cut off by M talking again.

"Everyday I was bullied for my hair and eye color," he seemed to be getting into this...

"Oh my, that must have been hard," Akira said, ready to tell him that there's no reason to worry now, before she was cut off too.

"The bullies weren't a problem for very long," M replied stoic as ever, "I learned to use the slingshot to shoot them, they didn't dare mess with me then."

"O-ok, I guess that's a way to deal with bullies," Akira said, unsure.

"You became Super High School Level Assassian with slingshot skills alone?" Evan said skeptically.

"No, my adoptive father taught me that," M replied, "he was an ex military general." From what little I could gleam from M's static face, he looked rather proud about that. I was too busy talking that I didn't notice I stopped walking, causing me to bump into Haruna. Turning on me suddenly Haruna gave me a hard shove, making a quiet 'Ooff' I hid the ground with Yukihiro close behind and causing even Akira to stumble after us.

"If you're not going to be useful then just go," Haruna scoffed, "no use in you playing if you're just going to talk."

"Haruna, it's just a game," Veliah said to her.

"What's wrong with you, you look like someone just died!" Haruna mocked the three of us, her eyes were mean and I realized that maybe this wasn't just a game to her, "come on, we can win this, let's go!"

"You can't act like that, not while I'm stuck to you," Veliah said seriously.

"I'll act how I want," Haruna said, "what does it matter to you."

"Honestly, I don't like your personality," Veliah says turning on Haruna, "I've put up with you this long but this draws the line, I can't stand you messing with people like this."

"Then take a seat," Haruna sneered back, "because I'm not backing down, bitch." Veliah grit her teeth, anger coming off in waves, when suddenly all of it disappeared.

"There's no point in fighting," Veliah said too calmly, "let's save this argument for later."

"Didn't take you for a pushover, V," Haruna scoffed, her silver eyes narrowed and met orange in mirth.

"Don't call me V," Veliah grated through her teeth, "I'm not a pushover, I just have enough common sense to know when I should just step away." With a hard grip Yukihiro put her hands on ether girls shoulder and gave a calming smile, stopping their argument.

"If we want to get through this killing game then we need to work together," Yukihiro said seriously, "We can swap partners with the cuffs, so tomorrow one of you two can switch out with us," she promised.

"We can swap partners," Veliah said skeptically, "I've never heard about this..."

"Well Sanyu-sama can swap at least," Yukihiro cupped her chin in thought, "we haven't checked if others could though."

"Why don't we just stay here?" James inquired, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair, "it's got everything we need and it's not like we have anything to go back to."

"It's not that easy," Evan replied, "they've already proven with the first motive their not afraid to play with basic human needs, we can only guess what else they will try next."

"And not all of us are done yet!" Yukihiro's eyes focused on the floor before meeting ours, "I've got some things to set right, people to find, apologies to make, and I'm not ready to give up on that yet!" Yukihiro bold words reminded me of what she said in the library, she probably meant she wanted to look for her sister after this.

"Not many of us have things to go back to," I murmured. I didn't mean for her to hear me, but Yukihiro acted like I screamed it in her ear. She shakily stood up on a chair to address the room.

"Then come back with me!" She offered to everyone, "I'll need a group to find my sister, so everyone who doesn't have anything, finding my sister just because your something!" She smiled brightly and pointed gesturing to everyone, "and we will find your missing family, your friends, your neighbors, we will even find your pets too, when we leave that's our goal!"

"You can't expect us all to live," Veliah replied, she was pensive before sighing, "I suppose I'll just have to see how your team works out when I join."

"Yeah we can be like, maids of despair or janitors of hope," Danny said excitedly to Kenta.

"Maybe a clean-up crew of disorder?" Kenta added.

"A despair clean-" Haruna was about to lean over add her own before Veliah shot her a look in annoyance. Haruna raised his hands in a mocking surrender and sat back down.

"We've just got to be strong, we just have to remember that killing isn't the answer," Yukihiro's voice got louder as she observed the crowd, looking for something, "that no matter what happens we will rely on each other." Her chair wobbled bellow her, causing Yukihiro to stumble at the height and fall. Akira caught her before she could get hurt but being handcuffed to me made a awkward catch, before settling her in the chair, "I'm sorry Akira-sama."

"Don't mention it, you were starting to look too cool anyways," Akira quipped with a smile. For a time after that we just talked, getting to know each other more. I learned simple mundane things, that I really didn't mind knowing, like that Yoshiki's favorite food is ravioli or that Kenta's is apples and pears. We debated if M's addiction to sandwiches was healthy or not, only for him to insistently deny he even likes them. And surrounded by this nice atmosphere I began to wonder, if I had not acted the way I did and gone to Hope's Peak all those years ago, would it have been like this? Well... there's no point in thinking about it now, I look around the group before I got distracted by Yukihiro messing with something with a worried look on her face, I tried to discreetly look at what she was holding. It was a folded up piece of paper, and it had some writing on it, she hastily hid it in her apron before cheerfully addressing the group.

"look at the time, it's almost night!" Yukihiro was right, a lot of time had passed and the announcement would ring any moment now. I was curious about the note and why it made her so worried, I decided to ask her about it before we go to bed.

"Alan and Kojiro still have at least an hour before they should wake up," Kenta mentioned looking at the clock, "I say we leave them where they are, best not to move them around unless necessary and we don't have a key to their rooms anyway."

"Should watch them?" Danny asked.

"It's only an hour," Kenta said again, "our previous watches only lasted that long anyways." With some hesitation by some we all eventually headed back to our rooms.

"Let's go find a Monokuma teacher," Yukihiro said, leading us to the nearest classroom at a quick pace.

"The announcement hasn't gone yet, there's no need to hurry," Akira said.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really tired," Yukihiro apologized with a strained smile.

"Are you feeling well?" Akira asked worried, "if you're sick, then we should get these cuffs off soon so you can rest."

"Thank you Akira-sama, I'm sorry for worrying you so needlessly," Yukihiro apologized, she opened the door to the classroom and we are greeted by Mono-Teacher 55 who waved to us.

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..." the announcement sounded.

"We would like to disconnect our cuffs please," Yukihiro requested.

"Aye, already on it," 55 said, and soon the cuffs were no longer linked. The three of us walked out into the hallway, I had wanted to ask Yukihiro about the note but I couldn't do that without alerting Akira, and I had already overstepped my boundaries by snooping.

"Night guys," Akira said before heading to her room, I waited for her to be out of earshot before I turned to talk to Yukihiro only to find she had already left. She must have already gone to bed, she did look tired earlier so instead I went back to my room and got into bed. I had trouble getting to sleep, I even tried watching the clock mindlessly click by, 11:13, 11:14, 11:15, 11:1- my slow torture was cut short when someone banged on my door, popping my head out I saw it was Haruna and Veliah. Both of the girls were trying their hardest to get everyone up but only managed to get half of us.

Akira walked up to me concerned, "is Yukihiro up?" She asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

"We've found a body," Haruna yelled, banging on the doors of the dorms of those still asleep. More people filed out before processing what she said, Veliah was breathing hard she looked like a mess, her hair was coming out of its ponytail and for a second I thought I saw bruises on her back before her cape covered it. Veliah looked at Akira.

"Yukihiro, in the swimming pool," Veliah said, I turned to see how Akira had reacted but she ran away to quickly to tell. I ran with the rest of the group to the pool, and found the body of Yukihiro floating face down in the water. Akira was already in the pool wading over to her with haphazard movements, she must have jumps into the pool the second she got here. Akira gently pulled Yukihiro out and checked her pulse in disbelief. It was obvious Yukihiro was already dead, but that didn't stop Akira from giving CPR and asking for not to leave her.

"A body has been discovered!" The announcement cemented the death.

Akira stopped moving, not even breathing, before slumping forward, "not again..."

 **I don't know If I mentioned this somewhere or not but the first motive took place over 3 days! I only now realize I've killed off the only possible gay relationship by Yuzuru being dead, and the bisexuals are alone in their genders T.T it's all just under tones here folks. So I'm going hard on the platonic soul friends! Gahahahaha!**

 **beta notes: /deep russian accent/ i hunger for sandwiches, also i'd die for sanyuzu**

 **Question for you! Got any ships? (I do... I wonder if it's starting to show? ;)**


	13. Chapter 2: Clean up your act!

This wasn't like Yuzuru's death or even Grant's, they happened with in days of being here- too early to feel the revaluation of this being real. Yukihiro's murder was our moment of lucidity, we weren't tired or too detached from each other to not react properly this time. My heart sinking at the loss also brought a sense of guilt to how little I reacted when Grant and Yuzuru were killed. But now is not the time to dwell on that, right now we have a investigation to do. Or did, until I heard a loud sniff and a hiccuped breath. It was unsettling to see someone like Akira cry, it wasn't unnatural in the sense like M or even me bursting into tears, but something sadder and more surreal. It was made even more depressing when you realize Yukihiro would be the best one to comfort her now. It was Haruna who was the first to react, giving a huff and walking up to the shaking Akira.

"She wouldn't want you like this, and I would know, she told me herself," Haruna proclaimed, "Yukihiro above all did not want to needlessly worry you, so suck it up!"

What wise words of inspiration...uh oh, Akira looked like she wanted to cry more but instead she wiped her eyes in one quick motion and stood up straight, "Yo-you're right, now is no time for crying."

"Don't worry Akira, we will all do our very best to find the killer and make them regret it," Danny reassured, Akira nodded in affirmation.

"You hear that!" Akira's face was red and tear-streaked but that was overshadowed by her determination, "I don't know who did it, and I don't know if I even want to, but I'll find the killer anyways. So be ready because I'm going to avenge Yukihiro with all my might!" Akira's challenge was taken heartfelt and sweet by some while others crudely rolled their eyes. The door to the pool opened to reveal a tired but alert Kojiro and Yoshiki.

"I heard the announcement," Kojiro said, "I just woke up."

"What about Alan," Akira asks.

"Still asleep when we left," Yoshiki explains, "they both only woke up a few minutes ago."

"How do you know Yoshiki?" James wondered.

"I got worried that it was one of those two who got killed so I wanted to check on them," Yoshiki said.

"He's the one who woke us up," Kojiro said confirming this. The doors opened once again to reveal a slouching Mono-teacher holding a clip board.

"Hello... I have the monokuma file... and since someone is dead... I can now remove your cuffs," Mono-teacher 42 said, he lazily passed the clipboard to the closest person (Kenta) and proceeded to remove the cuffs in the slowest most annoying way possible. But because 42 did that I noticed something odd, Haruna and Veliah cuffs were already connected, they must have forgotten to get them off or discovered the body before they could... actually how did they discover Yukihiro? The pool wasn't the easiest place to stumble on. I gestured for the two and they came over after removing their cuffs, and I brought us away from the group.

"How did you two discover Yukihiro?" I ask them, this was far too suspicious to let go. Haruna narrowed her eyes and went to say something before Veliah stepped in.

"We found her in the swimming pool," Veliah stated, I could see her start to sweat. But I ignored it, she had her hood pulled up and the pool was known for being uncomfortably hot, "I had forgotten my feather hair ornament in the locker room after I took it out to dry it, when we looked for it we discovered Yukihiro." I thought back and now that I remember it the clip had been gone, she must have taken it out when Haruna jumped into the pool a few days ago when the second floor just opened.

"I remember that," I agree. Their reasoning made sense but for some reason I couldn't let it go just yet, I then realized where this feeling was coming from. Haruna and Veliah wrists were bruised and a red hand print was beginning to form on Veliah's face, her hood had blocked it before but now it was obvious. I wasn't sure what happened between the two but I knew for sure they were lying about something. I'll bring this up in the trial later, when they will have to tell the full truth with the others there.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Bruises on Haruna and Veliah**

"Hey come look at this," James said bringing attention to something on the monokuma file, I walk over to check out what he meant. This file wasn't very different from the previous but this time we were provided a time of death, it wasn't until I read the last bullet that saw what was so surprising.

Victim: Yukihiro Yamika

"The time of death was around 10:30"

"The cause of death was drowning in the swimming pool"

"There are no external wounds or injuries"

"There was more then one attacker"

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Monokuma File**

"More then one attacker?" Akira observed seriously, "Does that mean multiple people... k-killed her, I thought that was impossible?"

"It is, maybe she was attacked multiple times but there was only one killer," Evan said, "Either way we have more work trying to distinguish between the two. I'm more interested that it says Yukihiro drowned, but she must have put up a struggle before hand," Evan said, "and there's nothing here that suggest that."

"Because the fight happened in the girls changing room," Akira stated confidently, but her voice was shaky.

"Why do you think that?" Evan asked.

"Because you all came through the boys side that means you didn't see it, but the girls room is messed up," Akira explained, "since this is a investigation I'm sure you can go in there now." So we all went to the women's side and it was indeed roughed up, it looked like a tornado happened in there. I look around at the toppled weight equipment and disheveled rug.

"She's not wrong a fight definitely happened here," Evan observed, "but I don't think Yukihiro was involved, perhaps this has to do with the multiple attackers."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Fight in the Girls Changing Room**

"They destroyed school property so it must have involved the killer or else they would have been punished," reasoned Kenta, "hey Girls Room Guard what's the rules behind school property damage?"

"If there was killing intent behind it then destruction is allowed," GCRG replied.

Evan thought about what she had said before asking, "who determined it was killing intent? And are we allowed under any circumstance besides investigation to go into opposing changing room?"

"I watched everything that had happened so that call was my judgment, and you can only enter opposite changing rooms if you are unconscious or dead," the GCRG explained before resuming her guard and answering no further questions.

"I see..." Evan mumbled, "that explains some things." Evan then exited the room and disappeared, James soon followed behind him after seeing there wasn't much else to find in here.

I noticed a trash can in the corner with some papers in and was reminded suddenly of the note Yukihiro received last night, I shifted the can to see if they had what I was looking for. Danny came up behind me, "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Looking for a note Yukihiro had," I replied curtly, searching the trash can, then the rest of the equipment.

"Why? Did you give her one?" Danny questioned, but he began to look with me anyways.

"Yesterday I saw Yukihiro holding a note with blue ink and she was worried," I turn to Danny, "I think it might be important, but I can't find it anywhere."

"If it's not here," Danny thought for a second, "then maybe Yukihiro still has it?" That's very likely, so we went back to the group doing the autopsy. M, Kenta and Haruna where looking over the body. My attention was caught on Haruna but I figured with Kenta and M around she wouldn't do anything suspicious, at least she wasn't screaming this time...

"Have you all found a note?" I ask.

Kenta shakes head 'no' then responds, "We did discover something else."

"Yukihiro put up no struggle," M continued, he pushed his messenger bag farther on his shoulder and held out the clipboard, "it's like how the file says, she doesn't have a single bruise or cut on her, and she should if we are to think she fought in the girls changing room." I look more closely at Yukihiro and confirmed what they said, she barely even has a hair out of place, not a thing wrong except-

"Her shoe is gone?" I pointed out.

"Yeah we don't know what happened there, we think she just lost it," Kenta shrugged.

"Her cuff's cracked too," Haruna said picking up Yukihiros wrist and shaking it, "how did she do that?" The crack had a interesting shape, the glass of the screen was shattered out from a tiny hole in the center.

"Ah!" Danny said suddenly, "Her countdowns stopped, if she broke it when she got attacked we can know when it happened."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Cracked Cuff and Count Down**

"Urgg, that's some math skills I don't have..." I admitted, the red lights flickered in and out but the time remained the same.

"I think that adds up to 10:15 or around there," M adds up, "25 minutes before she died and it takes 5-10 minutes to drown to death."

"What about her hand," Haruna said, she then crouched down and preyed open Yukihiros fist. Inside her hand was the note I've been searching for, my heart skipped and I crowed next to Haruna to read it. The others came up behind us and Danny pointed to the runny blue ink.

"Its to wet to decipher much, but I think that says 2A?"

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Note- 2A**

"There's also a piece ripped off," Kenta pointed out, "there's a lot missing at the bottom, I wonder if the killer or Yukihiro did that?"

"I'll go to 2A, you all stay here and check out the surrounding area," I said already standing up to leave. I went through the boys side and met Kojiro looking around the room, "what are you doing?"

Kojiro turned to face me, "I was trying to find anything that might hint to who the killer was, I thought that maybe I could find some hair strands or something to identify the killer, like how they did that in the first trial of the first killing game," Kojiro said before rubbing head in embarrassment, "that was until I realized this was a changing room and it wouldn't make sense..." Talking to Kojiro brought something important to mind.

"You passed out earlier right, how did that happen?" I ask. Kojiro thought about it before speaking.

"I honestly have no clue it just kinda happened, I think it's because I cracked my cuff," Kojiro exclaimed, "it was crazy looking, the part that magnetize the cuff together or something was completely gone and it was shattered too, and my countdown stopped!"

I perked up at that, "hey, Kojiro can you get your cuff- we could use it in the trial."

"Huh? Oh sure, I threw it away but it should still be there," Kojiro muses, "Alan might know some more, his cuff cracked too," Kojiro then suggests, I turn around and walk to Alan but I stopped when I noticed Alan picking a large black item up.

"What's that?" I ask him.

Alan turns around to face me, "It's a shoe."

"Really," I come up next to him and get a better look, it was Yukihiro's missing shoe, "why's that in the boys changing room?"

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Yukihiro's Shoe in the Boys Changing Room**

"No clue, maybe it got lost?" Alan brushed off the question before going back to the pool, "I'll show the others." With that information noted away I continued on to 2A and met Yoshiki in the hallway, I told him what I found and together we went to the classroom. Once inside I didn't notice anything suspicious or out of order until Yoshiki bumped into desk with a 'Oof'.

"The desks are moved," he said rubbing his side, "they are not lined up like they used to be when we came last time, and there are scratch marks on the floor," and it was true, hard to notice if you weren't looking or bumping into them. I saw Yoshiki pale in shock before reaching into the desk he bumped into and tentatively pulled out a knife.

"There's a knife in the desk, it was just... sitting in there," Yoshiki said dumbfounded, "there's no blood or anything on it, it doesn't even look used."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Disarrayed Desks in 2A/ Knife**

"Maybe it was a back up plan?" I question, "or maybe it was used to threaten instead?"

"It's likely, it could be why Yukihiro came here," Yoshiki theorized, he then went to place the knife back before reconsidering, "we should go check the kitchen and see if it came from there." And so, now armed with a knife and new puzzling information, we went to the kitchen. Inside the cafateria we were surprised to see a few of us already there.

"Oh, good Sanyu," Akira said when she noticed me walk in, "The others managed to decipher more on the note, something about information found and to meet at 10:1-something."

"We checked out classroom 2A and we found the desks had been moved and inside one of them was a knife," I told her, I gestured to Yoshiki who was still holding the knife and coming up behind James who jumped almost a foot in the air when he noticed it. I do a head count of the room and notice Haruna wasn't with us.

"Kenta, have you seen Haruna?" I ask him seriously, "I think they are up to something."

Kenta stalled for a second, "You don't honestly think they are the killers do you?" He grins, "try someone different, see if there's any others just as suspicious."

"You're starting to sound a little suspicious yourself," I reply coldly, Kenta only seemed to find it funny.

"Alan might know, I haven't seen him around either," Kenta gets a disinterested look to him when says this, "maybe Kojiro too?" I huff in annoyance before resigning to his suggestion and asking Alan.

"I don't know," Alan replied when I asked.

"Hey... you don't think Haruna and Veliah are the killers, do you?" I ask hesitant, i can't be the only one who think they are suspicious?

"I'm sure you of all people know what a little despair can do," Alan sighs, "try asking around I'm sure someone has seen them."

"Eww, what did I just step in!" Danny recoils away from where he was standing.

"It smells like a cleaning solution," Akira said wincing, "maybe Yukihiro was going to clean the floor and got attacked?"

"Makes sense, this is where the drink table spilled," Evan added.

"I thought I cleaned that up earlier though?" James wondered, "I guess my job wasn't good enough..."

"You only picked up the bottles and tables, you never mopped the floor," Danny said, "Yukihiro probably wanted to finish the job."

"That's strange..." Akira muttered, she bent down and touched the solution and rubbed it between her fingers, "I've seen this somewhere else, but where?"

"The storage room?" James suggested unsure.

"You're probably right," Akira agreed, "we should check it out, but before we do that let's swing by the kitchen I need to wash whatever this is off, I think it's already giving me a rash." Akira then went into the kitchen, Yoshiki and me following.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Cleaning Solution in Cafeteria**

"Good news and bad news," Yoshiki said as he observed the knife rack on the wall, "the knife did come from here, but there's another knife missing."

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, "why would the the killer need two knives? Especially since Yukihiro had no physical wounds."

"We worked with the food this whole time at the party, they must have taken it when we were there," I said, "or during the party?"

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Two Missing Knives**

"Did you guys notice anyone acting weird?" I ask, "or hear anything?"

"No, nothing," Yoshiki said, "not until a hour ago."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I was watching the infirmary," Yoshiki explained, "I just couldn't leave Kojiro and Alan passed out like that, especially during night hours."

"That's not weird at all," Akira said.

"That wasn't the strange part, what was weird was that I heard a noise and when I went to see what it was but no one was there," Yoshiki said, "it sounded like a thud and all I found was a monokuma cuff."

"Really? Was someone missing their's?" I asked.

"It looked banged up and it was falling apart, I couldn't even pick it up without all the pieces falling off," Yoshiki explained, "and when I went back to the infurmary no one was there and Kojiro and Alan were fine, then the announcement went off."

"What did you do with the bracelet?" Akira questioned.

"I threw it away, in the infirmary," Yoshiki says.

"Then let's go get it," I said and the three of us proceeded on, when we arrived Yoshiki peered into the trash can.

"It's gone!" Yoshiki exclaims, he shifts the trash, "the trash wasn't emptied out, there's glass shards from the cuff still in there, but then why is most of it gone?"

"You don't think the killer went back for it do you?" Akira asked, I could only shrug in response before the intercom screeched to life.

"It appears you are out of time, proceed onwards to your destiny!" The robotic female voice of our new announcer proclaimed. With that we all headed to the elevator and we're slowly taken down... and as we were going I made a resolution, don't worry Yukihiro I'll be sure to find your killer!

* * *

 **So can you figure out who did it? Hopefully it's not too confusing, it's hard to judge if things are making sense with my author knowledge :/ and I've also figured out that I have no clue how to write romance... got any tips on that? I guess I'm just too trigger happy to write despair rather then love...**

 **Beta notes: uuuuuuuuh can i get a burger**

 **Question for you: Who do you think will survive until the end? (I'm always changing my outline for the ending, there's just too many places to take this!)**


	14. Chapter 2: drowned in despair!

"Back so soon?" Monokuma cackled from the screen, "I see Ms. Maid bit the dust! You all in despair yet?" I ignored it's annoying voice and took my podium. I looked at the portrait of Yukihiro, exactly opposite of me, she was smiling in it and it felt eerie seeing her so happy after she died. I vaguely noted that the pink X across her was shaped like a broom and mop crossing (Yuzuru had a violent messy X and Grant's was in a comic sans font) before I spoke up.

"I have a question," I say getting everyone's attention, "Haruna and Veliah, how did you discover Yukihiro?" I ask them.

Veliah looks at me questioning, "I've already told you? We went back for my feather clip and discovered her." I felt myself get mad at her words, lying like that in front of everyone.

"You're lying," I say, "I know you are, you and Haruna are all beaten up, you were in a fight!"

"I slipped," Haruna replied angered.

"Yeah right, you slipped and sucker punched Veliah- she's got a hand print on her face," I retort, "admit it, you two are the attackers, you killed Yukihiro!" I heard a gasp and all eyes were on the two. Veliah shifted under the stares and pulled her hood closer to cover her sore cheek but was unfazed otherwise, Haruna instead stood out more but she looked calmer and more smug then before.

"Killed Yukihiro?" Haruna sighed, "I did no such thing, honestly Sanyu I thought you were smarter than that." I was about to give a reply to that when Kenta cut in.

"Sanyu you're going no where, Veliah and Haruna didn't kill Yukihiro," Kenta said before pausing, "...I think."

"You think!?" I reply bewildered, "Well, I know!"

"You're both being too rash, at least give evidence to your claims," Evan cut in sharply gaining control of the discussion, "I agree with Kenta, do you remember the Monokuma File? It said there were multiple attackers, but it never stated who they attacked."

"You're right to be suspicious of Haruna and Veliah, Sanyu," James said, "but they are not the killers."

"What do you mean? Of course they are the killers," I shout back, "just look at them," Veilah turned her head away, shame burning her face, Haruna shot a glare but stood unfazed otherwise.

"Sanyu, that's just not true and you know it," Kenta chimed in.

"And why's that?" I ask, for all I know Kenta could be involved as well.

"You proved their innocence yourself," Akira said suddenly, I stared shocked, I thought she would be on my side? "Their bruises and how they both were there, Haruna and Veliah didn't attack Yukihiro, but each other."

Oh... I feel the adrenaline bleed away and be replaced by a lost sensation, I was so sure it was them... I look over at Haruna and Veliah, Haruna is wiggling her eyebrows smugly.

"With that out of the way we can start with something concrete," Evan sighed, "the Monokuma File first and then we will go from there, James read the file."

James pulled out the file and re listed the information, "The victim was Yukihiro Yamika, The time of death was around 10:30, The cause of death was drowning in the swimming pool, There are no external wounds or injuries, There was more then one attacker."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Monokuma File**

"Let's start with the cause of death," Evan started, "how long does it take to drown?"

"It takes 5-10 minutes to drown to death," M input, "2 at the most to lose conscience."

"So that leaves some time for Yukihiro to struggle, or do something at least," Evan said, "but there's nothing to suggest that, it looked like she just fell asleep in the water, but why?" Evan went quiet thinking about his question.

"But she did struggle though? The fight in the girls room proves that," Kojiro inputs, "I thought that was obvious."

Evan lets out a loud sigh, then pointed at James, "Tell them James,"...The trial room was silent and I think I heard a cricket, "get it? Like in th- James just explain it."

"Got it! Well the fight in the girls room is a bit too intense to associate with Yukihiro, remember she doesn't have a bruise on her, so there's no possible why she did that. Evan said that perhaps this is where the multiple attackers come into play, they were never stated as a killer or having anything to do with Yukihiro so the fight in the girls room and the murder possibly have nothing to do with each other."

"Not possibly, there's no doubt they're unconnected," Evan corrected, "remember the girls room guard? She said it was her judgment and that she watched everything and the only factor needed was killing intent, not actual killing."

"Can you confirm that Monokuma?" M asks.

"That's right! though I wish those knock offs would keep their mouths shut!" Monokuma laminated, "can't wait for the real order to come around!"

"And we have some very convincing suspects for that," Kenta implied, nodding towards Haruna and Veliah.

"So it was you two that did it," Akira mutters, "but you're right, Yukihiro wouldn't just roll over and die ― she'd do something, her struggle must have happened somewhere else." With that line of thought I remembered something.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Disarrayed Desks in 2A/Knife**

"2A!" I shout, I turn to Yoshiki, "Remember that classroom 2A was messed up?!"

Yoshiki nodded in agreement, "the desks were in a disarray and we found a knife in one, a small scale struggle could easily have taken place there."

"It makes sense too, her cuff was broken, remember?" Haruna points out.

"Then if she went there, then how did she end up in the pool?" M questioned.

"Maybe she wanted to wash off the sodas she slipped in," Alan provided, I thought about what he said and it was possible, I should have done that.

"In chlorine water that countless others have already swam in?" Yoshiki asked, making a face, "I think that's worse then being sticky..."

"Maybe she got cornered? Or threatened to go there?" Kenta offered, "You said you found a knife."

"If they used the knife then they would have taken it to the pool, no use running between rooms," Danny deducted, "and we found nothing threatening near Yukihiro, it had to have been something else," with Danny's suggestion I remembered something.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Note 2A**

"There was the note, maybe it can explain why?" I suggest, if we can figure out why Yukihiro went to 2A maybe we can find out how that lead to the pool.

"Wait, what note?" Kojiro asked.

"Yukihiro was holding it," M replied, "Danny has it and Sanyu knows more." Everyone turned expectantly to me.

"I wouldn't say I know more, but last night before we went to bed Yukihiro had it already..." I feel myself sink at the memory, maybe if I was more stubborn I could have helped her.

"Can you read it for us?" M requested Danny.

"Ok," Danny held up the damp paper and began to read what he could, "come... 2A... information on... meet at 10:1-... alone, from Haruna"

"...from Haruna?" Alan questioned.

"I didn't write that?" Haruna said shocked and angry.

"I can vouch for her, Haruna has been with me all day and night," Veliah stated, "she's insufferable, but even she shouldn't be framed."

"So the murderer lured Yukihiro to 2A pretending to be Haruna," James said, "but why?"

"Don't you remember, a few days ago we caught Haruna and Yukihiro sneaking around," Kenta reminded offhandedly, "Maybe they were working together? ...I didn't hear what they said."

"She wanted to warn me about something, but saying it right now will only confuse you," Haruna said gravely, "you have to figure it out yourself, I promise it's better that way, also I just don't want to explain it."

"So the killer must have known you two were working together," Evan said, "and Yukihiro must have come thinking you had information."

"Ok, I guess we'll go to something else..." I shrugged.

"Well Yukihiro had a cracked cuff, remember?" Kenta mentions, "I'm interested in how that happened."

"True, and remember, the stopped clock falls between 10:10- the earliest guess for the meet up time for the note- and her time of death," M said.

"Her cuff was cracked?" Yoshiki asked, "how so? It didn't happen to be in pieces was it?"

"In pieces? No, it was cracked in a splintered shape originating from a small hole in the center," Kenta described.

"You're not serious!" Kojiro says shocked, then fished his pockets before pulling out his cracked cuff, "my cuff broke the exact same way when I passed out earlier."

"So did mine, though I have no clue on how it happened," Alan confessed, "if I knew this would have been so important I would have paid more attention, from what I can guess I think we just hit the table too hard and it broke?" As Alan said this in the corner of my eye I noticed Evan tell James something quickly.

"What is it?" I snapped to single them out, James jumps in surprise while Evan just narrows his eyes.

"We were just swapping theories," James explains briefly.

"What kind," Akira asks.

"About why Yukihiro could have ended up in the pool," Evan replies, "if what Alan and Kojiro said are true then perhaps when Yukihiro broke her cuff she could have unintentionally activated the affects, knocking herself out."

"You mean like she could have done it accidentally?" Alan asks.

"Not likely, there would still be the problem of why she was there," Evan says, "but if the killer broke her cuff and activated the effects rendering her unconscious they would have a simple killing method of just tossing her in and leaving." That was a morbid thought, Yukihiro dying without even realizing it, or maybe that was better?

"That's very probable," M says, "she seemed to have died quickly and without struggle, her being unconscious would explain a lot."

"So the killer must have carried Yukihiro into the pool," Kojiro said before pausing, "do you think the killer went through the male or female side?"

"I see, so we can either rule out all the girls or all the guys..." Yoshiki said.

"Well, since we've been outed, me and Veliah kicked each other's asses in the girls room," Haruna mentioned with a laugh, "and we didn't see a killer or Yukihiro or even another person in general walk through."

Veliah grimaced, "I'm sorry for my actions... but I agree, I never saw any others come in and when we left we found Yukihiro already in the pool."

"So the killer was a dude or you two were to absorbed in fighting to notice," James said.

"Wait, if Yukihiro went through the boys side she would have been stopped?" Danny questioned.

"No, the girls room guard verified that if the person was dead or unconscious they could go into opposing rooms," Evan said, "it's entirely likely the killer was male, though that information only rules out three people who were already proven to not be the killer."

"We can't be sure," Alan says seriously, "don't be too quick, we don't have any evidence to prove going through the men's side, and the killer could have easily came before Haruna and Veliah fought, and just because it was the boy's room doesn't rule the girls out."

"Oh I see!" Haruna yelled, "This could be just like the first killing games second case!"

"...you're not serious," Veliah balked.

"That's right buddy!" Haruna screamed, "Everyone drop your pants and prove it wasn't you in the opposing changing room!"

"Oh my god," Danny shook his head in disbelief, "Haruna please, we've all seen each other go through the the changing rooms before, and it's no ones place to divulge information like that."

"Although that brings up the disturbing point on how the mastermind could possibly know what we identify as and what we were born as..." Kenta said trailing off, I may not have a secret like that to hide but I still shivered at the thought of a psycho like the mastermind potentially getting information that private. But was there anything I found that could help prove how the killer entered the pool?

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Yukihiro's shoe in boys changing room**

"Wait," I said bringing attention to me, "I have something that could prove where the killer came from, remember Alan, we found Yukihiro's missing shoe in the boy's changing room."

"You're right," Alan replied, "but that could have easily planted or simply lost?"

"But it would have to have been a male who planted it anyways, and if it was lost how would Yukihiro have gotten it in there?" I ask.

"Yukihiro was denied by the male guards before so I doubt she could have gotten in now," Akira inputs before cringing at how it sounded, "...she wanted to see if it was possible."

"So she must have been carried in by the male killer while she was unconscious from 2A to the pool, then thrown in the pool, and then the killer left, all before Haruna and Veliah noticed."

"This is great and all, but I can't help and notice we are no closer to finding our killer," Kenta says leaning against his podium, "we have no suspects besides all men."

"Hmmm... Haruna and Veliah, you said you saw no one enter the pool but did you see anyone suspicious coming back?" Evan asked. Haruna shakes her head no to the question with a shrug.

"Actually, I did see someone in the hallway," Veliah spoke up, "I saw Yoshiki near the infirmary."

"And he was late to seeing the body," Kenta pointed out.

"I was with Kojiro and Alan, I didn't like the idea of leaving them unconscious during night hours," Yoshiki defended.

"It's true Yoshiki was with us when we woke up," Kojro said, "but he could have left at anytime while we were asleep."

"I stood in front of the door for the majority of the time, but I did leave though, I heard a noise and went to check it out, but everything was fine so I came back," Yoshiki said.

"When you heard the clunk noise right?" Akira asked, "and you found the broken cuff."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, maybe it was the cuff that made the noise?" Yoshiki replied.

"Do you still have it?" Evan asked.

"No, I threw it away because it was falling apart, and when we went back for it it was gone," Yoshiki explains.

"And this was before the body announcement?" Evan asked.

"I think a hour before it," Yoshiki said before rethinking, "but I could be wrong."

"Then whoever did it must have removed their cuff, or acquired another one," Evan said, "you could have encountered our killer."

"To get to the dorms you must first pass the infirmary," Alan said, "the killer must have thrown the cuff to distract you while the killer slipped back into their room."

"That's possible but it's too much of a risk," Veliah said, "wouldn't Yoshiki have heard footsteps pass him, and the door opening."

"What if they hid in the infirmary?" I suggested.

"Possible, but I checked the inside remember," Yoshiki reminded.

"The killer could have easily hid somewhere you didn't think to check," Evan stated, "for now let's assume that's what happened."

"I don't like the idea of assuming things when my life is on the line," Alan retorted.

"Every trial is based on assumptions," Evan sighed, "but if it makes you feel better we can see if anyone has any more evidence to add." The room was silent as everyone thought about what they could add.

"Actually, I don't know if this will help but I had a... dream? I don't know it was very vivid ― that someone entered the infirmary," Kojiro admitted, Alan looked thoroughly unimpressed by the information, "and I think it was real."

"You were knocked out by the cuffs right, there's no way you could have seen the killer," Alan said, "I don't think anyone entered the infirmary?"

"That's the problem though, I thought it was a dream but then when I woke up I realized it had to have been real," Kojiro said unsure.

"And what exactly made you know it was real," Kenta said skeptically.

"They stole something from me!" Kojiro exploded.

"What did they steal?" I asked, if it could keep Kojiro quiet for so long it had to be something important.

Kojiro hesitated for a second, looking suddenly unsure, "I can't say, but it was really important, just not for this case."

"That doesn't matter, for one you've just made it interesting and two it is involved now," Kenta said, "the killer has it now and somehow they knew you had it."

"Kojiro tell us or else you'll just become our biggest suspect," James said softly.

"I DIDN'T KILL HER, YOU'VE GOT NO REASON TO SUSPECT ME!" Kojiro defended furiously.

"And we believe you, but be reasonable, your withholding information that could be essential," Akira said calmly, Kojiro's breathing evened out and he let out a sigh.

Kojiro's eyes darted around the room, briefly he looked right at me, "it was a list of despair, it showed who here was a remnant of despair." I felt my mouth go dry and the room heat up, how did the mastermind know that? I took a shaky breath and scanned the room, everyone was wide eyes and silent.

"...what," I heard someone mumble.

"Kojiro, where did you get this," M asked serious.

"We stole it from a Monokuma teacher," Kojiro confessed, "me and Alan found it in a drawer while the Monokuma teacher was distracted, we didn't know what we took until it was too late..." from the corner of my eye I once again saw James and Evan talking rapidly and hushed to each other, I decided to leave them be this time, the list of despair was far more important to me.

"Alan?" Yoshiki asked, "can you confirm this?"

"Yes, we really did find a list like that," Alan confirmed coldly, "though I didn't know it was stolen," he shot a disapproving stare at Kojiro.

"Do you remember who was on the list?" Veliah asked next.

"Not clearly," Alan said, "but Yukihiro was on it." Yukihiro being mentioned as one on the list made my heart stop, not because she was a remnant (she had already told us before) but because that was one name to confirm it.

"Tell us who else was on it," Kenta asked.

"Well -"

"Stop!" I scream, eyes turn to me, "there's no point to calling people out."

"Sanyu's right," Danny says, "and we shouldn't bring up despair right now, it will only pit us against each other, we should focus on something else."

"R-right," I agree, "I think we should focus on the fact Kojiro was aware of someone in the room when he should have been out cold."

"Maybe it wasn't the killer, it could have been someone giving you a check up like Akira did the first time we passed out," James suggested, "or I at least I think she did that?"

"You... remember me giving you a check up?" Akira wondered, "But you should have been knocked out then?"

"You mean it was real?" James said surprised, "but I remember it."

"I admit I remember that too now," Evan said shakily, "if I had to sum it up, it felt like sleep paralysis."

"You don't mean that instead of knocking you out, the cuffs only paralyzed you," Akira said in horror. The trial room went silent at the implications. If the cuffs only paralyzed you then that must mean... Yukihiro was awake during her murder, I felt my self get nauseous.

"A rather gruesome death," I heard M say under his breath.

"Ah, Haruna, was this what you were waiting for?" Kenta asked listlessly.

"So you did listen in!" Haruna exclaimed, "and... sorta, there's more though."

"Wait, you mean you already knew the true extent of the affects?" Evan asked.

"Well, kinda, Yukihiro was the one to figure it out, she only told me about it," Haruna said quickly, "But how did she know this? Because when Akira looked over them while they were asleep she said they were unusually responsive!" Haruna then accused, "you all may not be able to move but you can still think!"

"Their pupils were moving, I assumed it was REM sleep," Akira defended, "but if they were really awake then that could explain their reactions..."

"So everyone under the effects were awake," Yoshiki stated, "but they were still paralyzed so they can't be a suspect."

"Why did she tell you?" Akira suddenly asked Haruna, "I was there with her the whole time and she never mentioned this."

"Man, making me rehash everything," Haruna said annoyed, "as I said before, she didn't want to needlessly worry you, Yukihiro told me last night because she knew I could check it out without the killer getting suspicious, I don't know why just that it had something about my 'do what I want nature' whatever that means."

"Wait, what did you say? 'Without the killer getting suspicious' did Yukihiro know who her killer was?" Evan asked in disbelief.

"She was suspicious of someone planning to kill, she even told me to not to eat the food," Haruna brushed off, "said something about it being too suspicious... that was the other thing."

"Why the food, what did the killer do to the food?" James asked panicked.

"I think they poisoned it?" Haruna thought, "but I don't know for sure, no one ate the poisoned stuff."

"But what food item was poisoned? Yukihiro took over the cooking and I doubt she poisoned them."

"The drinks! The grape punch was poisoned," Haruna sighed before pointing a finger at Veliah, "she has the proof on her right now."

"Yeah I spilled the drink on myself..." Veliah said showing her arm and collar bone, they were splashed with red irritated patches of skin, I cringed at the thought of drinking whatever caused that.

"But how can we be sure it was the punch that caused that?" Evan asked, "it's entirely possible she's simply allergic."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: cleaning solution in cafeteria**

"The cleaning solution you stepped in!" I reminded Danny, "it wasn't for cleaning, it was the spilled punch bowl after sitting for a while."

"Gak! And I was going to drink that stuff," Danny shook his head in disgust before questioning, "but who poisoned it?"

"That's easy, who was in charge of making the grape punch?" M questioned.

"Me, Yukihiro, Kojiro, Akira, and Alan," I listed, "no one single handedly did just one thing, we all kind of pitched in."

"So you four are our suspects," Veliah stated.

"No even better," Evan stated, "there's only two people possible suspects, Kojiro and Alan."

"For what exactly? We don't know if the ones who poisoned the food is the same as the killer," Alan cut in, "while it is possible Kojiro and I were involved with the poisoning we couldn't have killed Yukihiro because we were paralyzed by the cuffs."

"He's right, we have no way of knowing if the two incidents are connected," Danny said, "Haruna, how much information did Yukihiro share with you? Could you tell us everything she mentioned."

"That's all she told me," Haruna said.

"Even if they aren't connected it's good to figure it out anyways," Akira said before turning to Alan, "and Alan's only saying that because he's the one who poisoned the punch."

"That's a bold accusation," Alan replied.

"You and Kojiro were very adamant about helping with the food," Akira said, "and the fact Kojiro asked us to make the punch specifically purple."

"You asked them to make the drink?" Alan asked Kojiro in exasperation.

"Yeah..." Kojiro shrugged in response.

"So Kojiro and Alan worked together to poison the punch," Evan reiterated, "but why?"

"The list of despair obviously, those two were the only ones who knew about it and poison is a handy way to kill a lot of people," M imputed.

"Your suggesting that Kojiro and Alan were targeting Despair!" Danny said shocked.

"No! How dare you accuse me of that!" Kojiro rejected, "I don't know how I feel about despair anymore but one things for sure, I would never harm a remnant!"

"You were targeting everyone but despair!?" Danny said even more shocked.

"But Yukihiro was despair, and she's dead now," Akira said angrily.

"I said I would never harm a despair," Kojiro bit back, aggravated, "but I have no control over what others do."

"Then that confirms it," James said, "Alan and Kojiro, one of them is our killer!"

"But which one, two people couldn't have killed her?" Veliah asked.

"You're forgetting something important," Alan said, "me and Kojiro were under the effects of the cuffs, can't do much when you're paralyzed."

"You're right, so many things line up for it to be one of you two, but I just can't figure out how you all got out of the effects of the cuffs," Evan said annoyed.

"Alan and Kojiro could have just found a way around them," M offered, "I simply removed mine and nothing happened."

"But I never removed mine," Kojiro said seriously but edging on aggressive, "It broke and I really did become unconscious, even if I was actually paralyzed."

"And I remember you showing me your broken cuff from when you disconnected," I say, the way Kojios cuff broke wasn't enough to stop the injection of the cuff and for what it's worth I believe him.

"Your cuff broke?" Danny asked, "Yukihiro had a broken cuff too, in a splintered shape from a hole."

"Yeah, mine broke the same way," Kojiro said pulling out his cuff and showing it.

"So he must have really been paralyzed," Veliah said, "how about you Alan, did your cuff break?"

Without missing a beat Alan displayed his cuff, it was the same as Kojiro and Yukihiro's, "Yes."

"You had that out pretty quickly," Haruna snickered.

"There, does that prove it? I was paralyzed also," Alan said.

"If anything, it just made me more sure you're the killer," James said, Evan looked over at him curiously, "hey, I can work out stuff too."

"Then explain."

"Both you and Kojiro have broken cuffs and both of you claim it's a accident that it happened," James pointed out, "but that isn't allowed, the 7th rule states that 'Using only your own abilities, and not outside forces, can you take the Monokuma-handcuff off' if this really was a accident then you both would have violated the rules."

"That's true, but then they both purposely broke the cuffs?" Kenta said, "or did only one of them?"

"Monokuma hasn't punished them yet," M said, "have you?"

"Actually I did punish one of them," Monokuma snickered, "usually the drug diminishes your senses and that's how it keeps you paralyzed, that's why so many of you didn't remember your time under."

"So Kojiro remembering someone enter the infirmary well enough for this trial means he was punished by just being paralyzed but still fully aware of his surroundings," I theorized.

"Being drowsy and dying is bad, being full aware and unable to even scream is despairing," Kenta said. Kojiro gave a shaky nod.

"Alan broke his cuff on purpose, but we still don't know how he avoided the effects?" Danny says.

"I found that shattered cuff remember, maybe that was Alan's original one and he just got a different one?" Yoshiki started then trailed off.

"I removed my cuff but after that I had no clue where it went," M said, "Alan could have taken it and modified it before switching out his own, and my cuff was pretty beaten up."

"The killer did go through the trouble of digging the shattered cuff out of the trash," Akira input,"Alan must have done it to hide the fact he had an extra."

"So Alan, you're our killer."

"If you're so sure it's me then prove it," Alan replied, "because all I've heard are tall accusations right now."

"In denial? For one, only you and Kojiro knew about the list of despair and from what we found both of you are involved with the poisoning scheme. It doesn't help that before you claimed that you were totally unconscious and didn't see anyone enter the infirmary and now you're saying you were only paralyzed, and never saw this person enter despite compelling evidence. And you were far removed from everyone else during the murder and during the investigation, it's all suspicious." James retorted. I saw a few people began nodding along to the deduction and found myself agreeing as well. But I knew that wasn't enough, because too many of the things also incriminate Kojiro.

"Kojiro is in a lot of that as well, maybe he's the one who did it," Alan bit back.

"If what Kojiro said before is true, then he couldn't have killed Yukihiro, because she was despair," I said, "and so far he's seemed truthful and he was just as lost as everyone else on the murder of Yukihiro."

"I want a play by play of what happened," Haruna huffed, "I stopped listening."

"Ok! So here's what I think happened," I started, "Yukihiro found out about the list of despair after discovering it on Kojiro while he was under the effects of the cuffs, and thanks to Akira also learned that the people weren't unconscious but paralyzed. This is when Alan began to form his plot, Alan knew Yukihiro had found out too much of the poison plan and if carried out would result in their executions. Alan then resolved to betray Kojiro and instead target Yukihiro, Alan decided to fake his cuffs activation by breaking Kojiro and his and pretending to fall unconscious after modifying M's old cuff to not work, once left alone in the infirmary, Alan gave the note to Yukihiro and waited in 2A. Yukihiro then met Alan in the classroom where a small fight broke out but ultimately Yukihiro lost. Alan then carried Yukihiro to the pool where he left her to drown, after the murder Alan went back to infirmary only to find Yoshiki guarding the door, to distract Yoshiki Alan threw his already broken cuff and then slipped inside."

"Very nice," Evan assessed, "Alan had the perfect alibi, not only was he assumed unconscious but Yoshiki managed to make it stronger by claiming he never left and the killer was hidden in plain sight."

Alan laughed so briefly you wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't so loud, but instantly he shut down his face going serious, "come on, it's time to vote," his face grew shadowy and ominous, "if you're so sure that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's just you're so confident, I mean I would be more cautious if I were you," he sighs, "but it's fine, if you all believe in yourself so much it doesn't matter because if you vote wrong then the true murderer deserves to get away."

"...that won't work," Akira said firmly, "after all this evidence we won't second guess ourselves."

"You're all so trusting even after finding out there's so many despair here, I mean I'm a little hesitant myself to put so much trust on these world ender's accusations," Alan pushed on.

"Don't listen to him, we will deal with that later." There was a beat of silence.

"Give it up Alan," Evan said harshly, "this trial is over." There was no denying it now, everyone was on board and even Alan knew it.

"I guess I lost," Alan said softly, "...after all that I still lost."

Akira was crying again, "lost? What is this! A game to win or lose? How dare you- you killed her!"

"No!" Danny began, "It wasn't Alan's fault but Monokuma's, if he hadn't have trapped us this would have never have happened!"

"Oh, it's sweet of you to think that," Alan said mockingly, then his face twisted into rage, "but I won't let you take the credit! This was my doing and no one else's! I worked hard for this and I won't let you put me down again!" Danny's eyes went wide as he stumbled back, I could feel the tension in the room double, "all my life I've worked hard to get where I am, I sacrificed my time, money- friends! To get this damn school to notice, and what happens? It all gets swept over. The reserve course was nothing but a hole, it's no wonder everyone killed themselves with how we were treated, two girls were fucking murdered and Hope's Peak didn't even have the decency to care!" Alan began to calm down, his face still red from anger, "it's not you Main Course students fault, but it is what must be done... that's why I did it... every main course student, every despair, and every future foundation member needs to be eradicated."

"You're crazy," Akira said angered and saddened, "Your-Your despair killed Yukihiro."

"No I'm not despair anymore, that way of life was pointless and empty," Alan refuted and closed his gloved hand determined, "It all revolves around Hope's Peak, the pinnacle of all the problems we face, A mess like Hope's Peak must never come again."

"I see, you must have been spurred on by this project," Evan said, "considering all of us were originally here to revive Hope's Peak in a way."

"Even before the killing game was announced I was contemplating killing everyone who was assigned on" Alan admitted.

"The poisoning situation was a win-win for you, nothing to lose," Evan contemplated.

"How did Yukihiro find out about all this?" I ask.

"No clue, she's taken her detective abilities to the grave," Alan answered.

"What about the the knife?" I asked Alan.

"Oh that was Yukihiro's actually," Alan shrugged boredly, "She tried to stab me and almost did but I stopped her, but in the process our cuffs accidentally linked up. That wasn't a problem for very long though, I just had to do what I did with Kojiro and crack her cuff, luckily that also caused the affects to activate," Alan explained. Yukihiro apparently didn't trust the note as much a we thought, at least Yukihiro wasn't blindsided by the murder.

"...can we move on now and get to the vote?" Akira asked firmly.

"Pushy! But I can get behind that," Monokuma laughed, "pick your votes and not your noses, because we're digging for despair!" I ignore that last line by the bear and vote for Alan. The slots spin and land on him.

"Well, well, well, some of you suckers sure are crazy! Taking a chance like that!" Monokuma cackled.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"This vote wasn't unanimous, two people didn't vote at all!" Monokuma said.

"Eh?"

"But your coooorrrrect! Alan Wikly is the blackened!" Monokuma shouted and hit his red button. Soon we were in a familiar dark room to watch the execution.

 _The Ultimate Chemist_

 _Alan is standing on top of a skyscraper, Monokumas lined up beside him all wearing the reserve course uniform. With a perfect swan dive the monokuma jumped in synchronized, Alan breaking the performance at the end. His red eyes and their wing shaped insignia intensifying his refusal and determination, Alan turned on a dime and ran from the edge and down a checkered hallway as he ran the walls seemed warp, sweat beaded on Alans face when he saw the door at the end of the tunnel. The floor began to move against him, no matter how he ran he couldn't get away, just running in place in increasing desperation, suddenly the cuff beeps and begins to play a little jingle. With a wild reaching motion Alan flails and drops to the conveyer belt. The checkered belt takes up speed and with a blurry motion, shoots Alan straight over the edge of the roof and into the air, he seemed to float there for a second, his horn like hair fluffy and less daunting, before realization washing over. Like a rock he falls down into dark, disappearing without a trace like countless other reserve course students, his hat floating gently after him._

"I don't feel any better..." Akira said softly observing the execution, she then turned and went off into the elevator. I hesitate for a second hearing that before remembering how during Yuzuru's execution she helped me, I'll be sure to talk to her once we are out of the courtroom.

Once in the elevator I stood next to Haruna. "Haruna, I'm sorry for accusing you of killing Yukihiro," I apologized, I felt guilty after hearing how Haruna had been helping and only got blamed for it.

"Ahh, Sanyu it's alright," Haruna smiled and landed a harsh pat on my back, "I'm sorry for calling you a lil bitch!"

"... but you never said that," I laugh awkwardly, Haruna gives me a strained smile and speed walks out of the elevator. I feel like things are only going to get harder...

* * *

 _ **The brand new, extra special, revamped and renewed, ghosts only, Monokuma theatre!**_

Yukihiro threw a glob of popcorn into her mouth at the sight of Alan slamming the exit door in anger, "We already checked the exits, there no choice but to watch the game," she repeated for the third time. Yuzuru leans over the rows of red velvet chairs and grabbing a fist full of popcorn as well.

"She tried to stop you," Yuzuru said knowingly, "she foiled you many times but you just had to kill someone."

"You have no room to talk, you killed someone too," Alan pointed accusingly at Yuzuru, who only shrugged in response.

"Let's not fight you guys," Grant asked trying to play peace keeper.

"Shut up and get me more popcorn!" Yuzuru threw kernels at the new snack runner. Grant yelped, and then profusely apologized, "Gah! Shut up, I'm not mad at you anymore!"

"Can I have more butter please?" Yukihiro asked sweetly, gaining the wallowing man's attention, "And maybe a soft drink?"

"Upupupu, shut up you twerps!" The stuff bear yelled from his seat in the back, "no talking during the movie!"

"Mah! Like we're scared of you anymore," Yuzuru propped his feet up on the next row. Alan shot a glare at the bear and took his seat away from the group, but not before swiping a bag of popcorn from Grant.

"Ok! Time for Act 3!"

* * *

Masayuki Hisakawa (M)- alive

Yukihiro Yamika- deceased - Schlaf

Akira Nishihara- alive

Haruna takahashi- alive

Veliah Kazeto- alive

Yoshiki Kaiza- alive

Alan Wikly- deceased - Dha3000

Sanyu Mochida- alive

Yuzuru Taoka- deceased- Beta reader

Kenta Yuuta- alive

James Guzman- alive

Evan Halen- alive

Danny Walker- alive

Kojiro Ryuhisa- alive

Grant Kingsmen- deceased- Me

 **Well, There's two more dead! And I'm rather sad too, I enjoyed writing Yukihiro secretly saving everyone, and Alan's views were fun to consider and interpret into the story (hope I did them justice!) So Monokuma theater, yes or no? I thought it might be a nice way for you guys to see your dead characters and not have them totally omitted from the story! If you guys like this kind of outsider purgatory thing then I'll keep it around, have it appear after every execution starting now? Be sure to review your thoughts please!**

 **Also It's uhhh... been a while, sorry for leaving you hanging! but now I'm back and I'll try and update regularly! This really is fun for me and I enjoy seeing how I come up with new things, so I don't plan on quitting!**

 **Beta Notes: she can't spell remnant. i didn't know you could misspell it that many ways. I'm so shook.**


	15. Chapter 3: B is for Baggage

I scampered out of the elevator after Akira, "hey, Akira wait for me." I call, getting her attention. She turns to me and stops. Everyone else bustled past until it was just us in the hallway. Akira was quiet until the elevator pinged and the door shut, shaking her out of her stupor.

"Hey Sanyu," she replies quietly, I didn't like how subdued she sounded. Akira may have been reserved in the beginning but after getting to know her, now it just felt wrong.

"Can I talk to you?" I ask, "about what just happened."

She stared for a second before sighing, "ok." Now that I had the go ahead I was lost, I wanted to talk to her but I don't know what to say.

"I guess, uh, I wanted to tell you... that this wasn't your fault," I start, "or well, Yukihiro's choice was, um, her choice?"

Akira shoulders shook and I suddenly had the fear I had made her cry, until I saw her face. She was smiling slyly, "as much fun as it is to hear you scramble your words I don't want to be stuck in the hallway forever," Akira said and began walking, I followed after her, "It's nice that your trying, but I guess I'm just having trouble processing what has happened. I mean it all just hit me, I didn't even vote because it felt so surreal."

"You were one of the two that didn't vote?" I asked shocked.

"It's strange isn't it, for the whole investigation I was fired up to find Yukihiro's killer but once it came down to it, I froze. Just hitting the button made it feel so final, that if I picked Alan it would mean her death was over that the execution would be her conclusion and I guess I didn't want that... I didn't want her memory to end because it had its resolution." Akira went silent, I didn't notice it before but she had put her sunglasses on, so I couldn't see her eyes but I could tell she was tearing up.

"Akira.." I trailed off not knowing what to say to that.

"Ah, Can we just... stay off the topic for now?" She asks, "I can't handle it, not so soon."

"Yeah ok, but if you ever need anyone to talk to I'm here," I reassure, "Yukihiro was my friend too... I think."

"You think?" Akira questioned.

"Well I think of her as a friend but for all I know she could have hated my guts," I joke, Akira stopped walking and turned to me.

"No, she was your friend, and so am I," she reassured right back. Akira's words brought me back to the first case when I was trapped in the storage room with Danny, back then it made me sick to my stomach with nerves, but now the idea isn't so scary, being friends isn't so bad I guess. We start walking again and I notice we are on our way to the dorms.

"Oh, well thanks," I reply.

"That was the most monotone thanks I've ever received," Akira laughed, her laughter was cut short by a startled yell when the whole hallway went black, "what the!?" Just as soon as it happened the light came back.

"Did the power just go out?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah I guess it did," Akira replied, "but it wasn't for very long so it probably doesn't matter."

"When I was younger the power would blink out for a second at my house all the time," I say, "though that might have been because our power was being cut."

"Huh, when I used to live in Miami it would happen too," Akira added, "usually it happens because of a number of reasons, like a branch or animal touching the wire."

"Really?" I wonder, Akira nods.

"Once I was in the middle of fighting a boss battle in this game and I was so close to winning when suddenly the power cut out like before, I lost almost all my progress in the game because I forgot to save," Akira recounted, "now I'm a compulsive saver, it could have auto-save and I'd still do it just to be safe."

"I've never really played too many video games, mostly I just spent my time outside and far away from my house as I could get."

"Haha, yeah me too, sometimes it's nice to get out and active, I always enjoyed surfing!" Akira agreed, I get the feeling she misunderstood what I meant but I don't want to bring down the mood when she finally looks happier. Before I knew it we were back at the dorms. Yukihiro's murder had taken place around 11 and it's 3 am now so nothing would be open yet and it's best if we all got some rest after the emotional day, "Good night I guess." Akira nodded with a 'you too' before entering her room.

Right before I entered my room I saw M enter the hallway, "Hey M," I say getting his attention, "did you go somewhere?"

"Mmh, yes I checked out the 3rd floor stairs, the gate was... open," He replied, "but I figured it would be suspicious to go there alone." M then entered his room and shut the door. I yawned just now realizing how tired I was, I tiredly grabbed for my key and unlocked the door, I opened it to find James sitting up in the bed staring at me warily.

"Um... this my room," James said slowly, "did I not lock the door behind me?"

"Oh sorry I'm next door," I apologize, "and not locking your door is kinda dangerous." I shut the door behind me, that was weird I could have sworn I unlocked the door. I look at my key and realized I hadn't used my normal key, I had used the extra one (the one with the strange Monokuma design) if it could unlock both my door and somehow James—yawn—... I'll have to look into it later, right now I'm too tired to process the implications.

The next morning I sat in my bed long after the morning announcement, before I had thought that because I went to bed so late I wouldn't have trouble sleeping, boy was I wrong. Eventually I left my room, I slept maybe a hour- 2 tops- and I'm tired. Too tired to deal with whatever was happening in the cafeteria.

Kenta was standing on a chair directing all attention to himself. "We have something important to discuss," Kenta proclaimed, "during the trial we discovered that among us is quite a few despair, and also we will address the poison plan— you're not getting off that easy Kojiro." Kojiro pointedly looked away.

"First off we need to lock down anything potentially deadly," Yoshiki suggested.

"That's impossible, if we do that then we'll just have some obscure weapons we will never be able to guess in the trials," Evan stated.

"What makes you think someone will even kill again?"

"By not being stupid, we haven't even received the third motive and tensions are already at a high," Evan bit back, "if I ever felt more sure about a death it's now, we have this despair crisis and not to mention everyone is still grappling with the fact we were all almost poisoned in one fell swoop."

"Then what should we do?" James asked, Evan stopped and thought for a second.

"I'd suggest pairing up, but after last motive I think we all have had quite enough of each other," Evan contemplates, "so perhaps we should all just stay as far from each other as possible, to ease tensions until we all feel better prepared to face our problems."

"Well I don't disagree," Veliah commented, "but if we're all separated it would be simple to isolate and kill." Everyone was quiet, thinking about what was the best course of action. I honestly think splitting up would be good for us because right now we're just grating on each other's nerves, just some quiet time would give us time to wind down. For all it's good though, if someone gets isolated it could backfire.

"Maybe we keep a watch on suspicious people, or try and know where everyone is?" Yoshiki put out.

"We did something like that in the first motive, with the log out book, and that just ended up helping the murder."

"We could find out who's despair-" James suggested,

"And what? Pin the blame on them?" Haruna snapped.

"Do we really need to address the despair?" Veliah asked, "It will only bring unnecessary distrust."

"We have a right to know," Yoshiki inputs, "and not to mention Monokuma and despair go hand in hand."

"Really?! Just because some of us are despair doesn't mean we are the mastermind," Haruna said heatedly.

"We can never be too sure!" Kenta chimes.

"I don't understand why you're trying to rile them all up?" Kojiro asks Kenta, "considering your position."

"Ah well, there's no fun in a story unless we have viable conflicts," Kenta replied, waving him off, "oh right, Kojiro, I believe you are currently the only one who knows who all the despair are, you wouldn't mind sharing with the class would you?"

"I will do no such thing, I don't trust any of you to use the information wisely and I myself only came upon it by mistake," Kojiro stated, "but I suppose I could tell you this, currently only 5 us are despair."

"Five? that's half of us," Evan noted, "I'd say us non despair are at the disadvantage, it would be best for us to know who's who."

"You all sound pretty divided," a voice said, we all turn to the doors to see Monokuma teacher 55, "if you want I'd be happy to tell you! But that's not why I'm here, I'm here to remind you that the third floor is now open and your welcome to explore!"

"The third floor!" Danny said loudly gaining attention, "we should all check out the third floor and put this behind us, partner up and leave the despair accusations for another less tense day, or better yet, never!"

"Fine, ok dismissed, be back by 2 or we'll have to go find you," Kenta waved off, he set off out the cafeteria followed by the others. I joined up with Akira who had started talking to Danny.

"Thanks for changing the subject," Akira says to him, "I don't want to deal with that right now."

"Oh, thanks," Danny blushes, "it's just- I hate it when people go and jump to conclusions and punish others for no reason!"

"I agree," Akira agreed.

"Well, I guess the three of us can go explore together," I suggest.

"That be good, but let's not go to the third floor just yet, one of the Monokuma teacher restocked the MonoMono-machine and I'm itching to try it," Akira informed.

"That thing? From the first game?" Danny asks.

"Yep and I have Mono-coins, found them hidden around the school," Akira said passing out three coins each, "I have like 150 of them so don't be shy to ask for more."

"That's a lot..."

"Listen, there is literally nothing to do here but talk to others and I need something to keep me occupied," Akira justified. I didn't even know the coins existed let alone go around and try and find them, but now that I knew maybe I should start looking for them too?

We all walk onto the School store and step up to the machine, "you think it has the same items as in the previous game?"

"One way to find out," I put my first coin in and turn the knob, out fell a little black and white ball. I open it to find a plate of sea salt, feeling slightly cheated I put in another coin. Another plate of sea salt... third times the charm, I turn the knob and I'm rewarded with... mineral water... "this thing is rigged."

"I'm sure it's not," Danny said hopefully. He put his first coin in and got sea salt as well, "oh, well there must be a surplus of salt here?" He put in the second and received a cute little kitten hair clip, "here Akira, you can have it, it would look better on you than me." Danny then pocketed his third coin to save for later.

Last but not least was Akira's turn, she put in her first coin and turn the knob but nothing happened, she then wiggled the machine.

"It's stuck," Akira assessed, "we are going to get that prize, I payed good money for that." I don't know if Mono-coins count as money, but I know they certainly aren't good money.

"Shake the machine," Danny suggests, I backed away not wanting to be associated if things go south. Akira and Danny brace the machine and rattled it until something clucked out on to the floor. Akira picked it up and examined it, it was a wooden bath bucket with a towel inside, there was a tag on the side. How did that fit in the machine?

"A man's fantasy?" Akira read, "My intuition is telling me I shouldn't give this to any man." Akira packed her spoils and left the school store to her room.

"My intuition is telling me we just lost something special."

Eventually Akira joined back up with us and we started onto the third floor, along the way we bumped into Evan and James, "weren't you just saying we should split up?" I ask Evan.

"Not right now, just some time in the future," he replied defensive.

"Speaking of running off alone," James started, "I saw Kojiro disappear into the art room awhile ago, should we check on him?"

"I don't see the need," Evan stated and the two went the opposite way.

"After the last motive, someone should go make sure he isn't planning anything," Danny said before back peddling, "not that I'm suspicious he'd do anything! I'm just worried about what the others will think!"

"I'll go see what he's doing," I volunteer, "you two can continue exploring, I'm too tired to walk around the school anyway." I yawn to prove my point and leave the two.

Eventually I find the art room and Kojiro inside, he was drawing a picture on one of the canvases, "hey Kojiro," I greet.

"Oh-Sanyu, I didn't expect you to come here," Kojiro acknowledged, "your little key ring from the first round wasn't what I called quality, but I'm glad that failure didn't stop you from taking another stab at it." I thought I did good on it, wonder if Veliah still has it?

"Here, we can find you something easy to work on in the storage room, I remember this from my Hope's Peak days," Kojiro said, walking into the art storage room, "I'm going to be here for hours trying all these different materials, we may be in a life or death situation but that won't stop me from having fun."

Should I hang out with Kojiro today? He may have tried to kill everyone else, but if what he said about despair is true then I probably have nothing to worry about being alone with him. I grab a canvas and some supplies and sat down, for a long time I just stared at the blank board not knowing what to paint. Eventually I settled on painting a car because that's the only thing I could think of, In my contemplation of what color I should make it Kojiro started talking.

"Past, present and future," Kojiro said, "the truest form of hope and despair."

I stared at him, what kind of edgy line is that, "what does that mean?"

Kojiro angled the canvas to me, showing off the straight and messy lines as well as some already painted spots. It was a painting of Hope's Peak, in front of the building was a lightly sketched depiction of everyone. It would have been sweet if it wasn't for the fact those who were dead had been filled in with black, making them a sort of shadow.

"If we were to discuss your future would you feel hope or despair?" Kojiro questioned me, he put the painting back down, "or maybe the past brings more conflict?"

"I don't really care," I reply ignoring him.

"Now for us the past is most certainly on the despair side, and don't deny it I've seen the list," Kojiro continued, "can't do much about things back then, do you miss your life before the most despair inducing event in history?"

"No."

"Quick to reply," Kojiro jokes.

"You freaked people out with the poisoning scheme and I don't think people are going to trust you for awhile because of that, and your defending of despair only makes it worse," I say to him changing the subject, Kojiro just keeps painting until he finishes coloring Evan's hair before replying.

"They just don't realize what I'm doing is for the best, you can't just fake hope and get along like that."

"Fake hope is better than no hope," I contemplate, "when you have no hope you get desperate and you're pushing buttons."

"No one's gone haywire because of me yet," Kojiro said exasperated.

"Alan."

"The poisoning plan was the only thing I was involved in, not what he did."

"Quick to reply," I joke back.

Kojiro makes a mocking face, "oh, ha ha." Kojiro goes back to painting but I notice he's switched to filling in what I can only assume to be Alan's figure, "I didn't vote for him, I figured it wasn't right to, he was simply following his ideology," Kojiro admitted. I was surprised to hear that but it wasn't as shocking as Akira's confession, "though I do wish he brought me in on it, I probably would have helped him," he added in an after thought.

"Despair killed millions for their beliefs," I say solemnly, "What if I'm pushed back to that evil thinking."

"I'm a reformed despair just like you," Kojiro replied a bit forcefully, but then coughed awkwardly in embarrassment at his outburst, "but that doesn't mean I'm always the good guy just like despair isn't always the the bad, things are subjective even when you understand the whole situation."

I stop my scribbling and think over what he said, I suppose in a way he's right. I then freeze up, I hadn't even noticed it but I just straight up told him I was despair, and while that may not matter to him it does to me. I've spent the last few years erasing (and repressing) that part of my past and I won't have some friendly conversation ruin my work, I'm going to have to be more careful about this later on.

"I think that's enough hanging out today," I reply a bit coldly. I look down at my artwork, it was a mess of ugly colors bleeding together, I didn't like it, "here Kojiro, you can have it."

"Thank you, a bit of exploration into abstract?" He asked, I don't reply and hurry to the exit, "oh you're leaving? Well I'll see you tomorrow." I felt bad leaving like that but it was for the better. I head down to the stairs when I meet Yoshiki.

"You're still up here?" Yoshiki asks, "it's already past the meet up time, but Danny and Akira told us where you were."

"Oh, I haven't gotten to explore yet," I say a little disappointed.

"I could run you through the rooms real quick if you want?" Yoshiki offers and I agree.

We first go to the physics lab, it was exactly the same as seen in the first killing game, the big ball like generator whirling as it did its thing. Next we hit up the class rooms and met a Monokuma teacher but they were easily forgettable. Finally we visited the recreation room where it had a nice atmosphere.

"Well this was fun and all but I'm tired," I say, yawning once again, "I'm going to go and take a nap." I then hurry down stairs and stop at the door to my room, when I stop. Last night I was able to enter James's room, we had both assumed he hadn't locked his door but that can't be it because I remember unlocking it. I look at the Monokuma key and then at the silent hallway, it wouldn't hurt to try.

I go to James's door and rattle the handle, locked. I use the key and find it really did work, I relock the door and go down the line, every dorm door I tried yielded to the Monokuma key. I look down at my new found advantage, I should keep this to myself, it might come in handy later and I also don't want some killer getting ahold of it. I enter my room and place the Monokuma key tied to Yuzuru's bracelet under my mattress, it wouldn't do to keep parading it around where others could see. Then I finally settle down for a glorious nap.

* * *

"Would everyone please come to the gym," the announcement woke me up, I still don't think I got enough sleep but I'd probably get threatened with execution if I don't attend the meeting, so begrudgingly I head to the gym. Yoshiki and Akira greet me on the way there.

"Think it's the motive?" Akira asks.

"Probably," I reply. We enter the gym and stand near the stage, soon the lights dim and a spotlight flickers on to shine on a microphone. I wonder why they're getting so dramatic with the lighting?

The same female Monokuma speaker from last round sauntered on to stage and takes the microphone.

"It's the same woman speaker from last motive," I say to Yoshiki and Akira. So what happened to the first speaker 21 must have been a outlier, like how M had said they were tying up loose ends.

"Of course it is, you'd think me so replaceable?" She said sadly, dramatic tears forming in the Monokuma masks eyes, "How cruel... after all the trouble I went through to inform you of the next motive, the third motive!" There was a hush as people awaited the announcement.

The female speaker tapped the microphone and cleared her throat, "the first thing we recognize in this world is our family, and then our friends. We grow to care and love the few who love us back, we don't think of it often and maybe even take it for granted. So I want you all to think of your most loved one and then ask yourself... are they important enough to kill for?" A ominous feeling shadowed her words, "because this is exactly what this is about." Another Monokuma teacher rolled out a small table with a metal box on it, the female speaker opened it and produced a stack of papers, "this here is a complete report on your family members, including but not limited to; their locations, their well being, and the best way to find them."

"So this motive is information on people we know?" Evan asked.

"Yep, if they were missing before then they aren't anymore! Maybe even those you thought dead are secretly alive?" She singsonged in reply, "Aww, I can tell you don't believe me?"

"Of course not."

She then shifted through the papers, tapping her foot as she did so, "Hmm, here we go! Oooh Yoshiki looks like your kiddo has gotten mixed in a bad crowd..." she looked at another paper, "James, not much left for you is there?"

James winced slightly before recovering, "How do we know your not just making this up?" He asked.

"Still don't believe me? Ok how about a name then? Danny, your lil' sis Giselle is in trouble, bla bla bla, impending doom, all that business"

"What? How do you know about her!" Danny exclaimed, "is she ok?!"

"Better murder and find out," the female speaker replied, she placed the stack back in the metal box and the other Monokuma teacher rolled it away, "in your rooms you will find a note detailing some information on their status, but only the escaped blackend will be able to get the complete reports for all their loved ones. You are all dismissed."

I stand still for a bit, Yoshiki was already gone before the speaker even finished. But still next to me Akira wavered on her spot, her eyes were wide but I don't think she's seeing anything, "Rosita? Sean? Everyone?" She whispered in disbelief and confusion, then muttered "no no she's gone— but not the others." I look at her questioning, who was Rosita and that other name? A family member or friend? But Akira ran before I could ask her, in fact I was one of the last few still in the room. It was just me, Kenta, Kojiro and Haruna, the three of them must have no one left or else they would have ran out like the rest.

I walk over to the three, "Do you want to check the bulletin board?" I ask unsure, Kenta shrugs, but everyone follows.

 _The bulletin bored_

 _1, Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time._

 _2\. "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution._

 _3\. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly._

 _4\. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion._

 _5\. Violence against headmaster, and teachers is strictly prohibited_

 _6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered._

 _7\. Don't be wasteful with our resources._

 _8\. More rules may be added if necessary._

"Number 7—Don't be wasteful?" Haruna reads, "What, is Despair going green," she snickered at her joke.

"Well it's a rule now," Kojiro points out irritated, "doesn't matter how stupid it sounds." The small group then dispersing.

On my way to my room I thought about the motive, I honestly couldn't think of a person still alive that this motive would involve, but what if there was someone still out there for me? Would the mastermind actually be able to find this mythical person? I find myself strangely eager to find out. I enter my room and see the folded strip of paper on my bed, briefly I worried they might have found the Monokuma key, I check for it to find it hadn't moved, with that out of the way I snatch the paper and open it.

Lucky! Lucky! Mr. Sanyu you have no one to care about or anyone that cares about you! So you get a pass on this motive! Unless of course you want to kill for the fun of it then that's allowed too!

There was a little smiley face drawn at the bottom, but it only served to make me mad at the letter and myself. It was stupid for me to have thought there was someone left, I even knew the possibility was nonexistent... but it still hurt to have it confirmed like this.

* * *

 **Well hello, I'm glad everyone liked the theater so that will appear after every execution! And it's been a year since we've started so yay! *air horn* also do you guys think I should up the rating?**

 **Question for you: who do you** _ **think**_ **are despair? (But don't out your own character!)**

 **Please review ;)**


	16. Chapter 3: E is for Ensemble

If the atmosphere yesterday was bad then this was crushing, it felt like I just walked into a high tension western movie and any wrong word would start a shoot out. I immediately seek out Akira and the usual personable people but even they looked depressed. Akira was reading over a paper, eyes sad, it must be about the names she mentioned last night.

"Hey, Sanyu," Haruna said calling me over. I go over to her, she had Kenta, Kojiro sitting with her, "want to sit with us? We're the trust worthy group."

Kenta scoffs, "As much as you can be with the secret poisoner here."

I consider it for a second, sitting with them would be fine because I knew this motive really didn't target them, but I don't feel like putting up with them, "Actually, Harun-" I was forcefully dragged down to eye level with determined silvery eyes.

"Sanyu, tomorrow you will get a note from me detailing a meeting," her fingernails dug into my arm, "it's important, don't miss it." Kojiro and Kenta nodded behind her.

"Oh?" I replied unsure, as soon as I was released I scurried away. What was that about? A meeting, what kind? Not a good one if it involved those three. I quickly sat down next to Evan and James before I could be dragged back to the wonder three.

"People are dividing up I see," Evan said, "maybe groups of two is the better option...preferable to us standing alone." I agree, talk about isolation, there's a ice wall between every body. But I think I'll hang out with James and Evan today, the conversation was pretty light hearted considering the recent motive and I preferred that in the morning.

"You two partnered up pretty quickly," I comment, "didn't you guys hate each other?"

"We just misjudged each other in the beginning," Evan answered, "but were past that now, if I must admit James is the least annoying here."

"Aren't you a great friend," James replied sarcastically.

"I'm the best around," Evan responds with sarcasm.

"So what do you guys want to do?" I ask.

"Let's go to the library, I haven't been there in awhile and I need some peace and quiet that isn't uncomfortable," Evan stated. I remembered back to the second motive, Yukihiro and Akira both liked the library, and in the brief time I was there it was fun for me too.

"Sure," I look over at Akira who was reading the motive letter again. It probably wasn't good for her to be so focused on it. Maybe going to the library with us would be just the distraction she needs? "Hey Akira do you want to come with us?" I shout to her.

Akira was still before nodding yes and joining the three of us. We all went to the library and got our books, I quickly notice Akira still reading her letter and hand her a book. Resigned she takes it and puts away the paper. The day carried on peacefully and I managed to read more books in one day then I had in a few years, it was startling amicable.

"James, I noticed something last night on the way to the gym," Evan said, still reading his book, "as we passed the trophy room, right before the gymnasium I looked at some of the awards won and I saw your name."

"Really?" James asked sitting up in his chair, "wow, I forgot all about that. Which one was it?"

"It had a little figure on it with a blue ribbon tied around the base."

"Haha! I remember winning that one!" James said excited, "that feels like such a long time ago..."

"What did you win it for?" I ask curious.

"Kickboxing, I mean it is my talent... or was at least," James boasted, "I was a national champion in America when I was 16."

"Well I haven't done anything that impressive," Evan said not looking up from his book, "I'm just a simple lawyer."

Akira raised a eyebrow, "How did you get the Super High School Level Lawyer? Don't you need to got to law school?"

"I took online classes and told a little lie on how old I was," Evan smirked, "I put everything in my older sisters name to verify and just made sure no one found out, of course eventually they did but by that time I had a bachelor in law."

"Sounds kinda illegal."

"It was, they revoked my degree but I was in Hope's Peak so it worked out," Evan shrugged, closing his book. Evan and James continued on talking, and the longer they went on the more I wondered how they could be so carefree in this motive. Don't they have a family to worry about?

I glance at Akira, then back to them, "How about this motive?" I ask.

"It's... difficult," James sighs reluctant, "my grandparents are all I have left and they are sheltered at future foundation, but I can't help but think maybe something happened and their not as safe as I thought."

"My family is safe as well, but they are not sheltered like yours is," Evan sunk into his chair, "and the information letter they gave me was to vague to even worry about."

I suppose that is a good reason to be carefree, they already know their family's safe.

"I see, I don't have to worry either," I say, "my family isn't around anymore."

"I wouldn't say we have nothing to worry about," James replied, "this motive is still scary, but I'm actually more worried about the others, I can already tell certain people are acting different."

The library door then swung open and in stepped Veliah, "Oh, you're here," Veliah said disappointed at seeing us, but apparently we weren't enough to stop her from enjoying the library.

"What brings you here?" Evan asks.

"Things got heated in the cafeteria," Veliah explains, "everyone has split up and are hiding out in different areas."

"Heated? How?"

"Danny got in a fight with M," Veliah waved off, "less of a fist fight and more of a shouting match, anyway, M accused Akira here of being the next murder so Danny got mad saying he had no reason to think that."

Akira looked up at her name, "I see, where did they go after that?"

"Danny went to the School Store—no clue why— and M is in the swimming pool? For some reason?" Veliah replied, she then went and picked through the books, her forest green hair matching the lines of book spines.

James got up and put away his book, "Evan, should we go see what's wrong with M?"

Evan sighed, "honestly I don't see why your friends with him," but despite the statement Evan left with James, and me and Akira were left alone.

"We should go check on Danny," Akira says getting up from her seat on the floor. I follow after her unsure on what else to do.

We found Danny in the school store, just like Veliah said, slowly putting in coin after coin in the Monokuma machine.

"Hey Danny," I say hesitantly, he nodded his head in response but didn't look up, "are you ok?"

"I'm just thinking about some things," he twisted the knob and a white and black ball falls out, "oh—here, you like Sea salt don't you," Danny then hesitated, "or wait do you want it Akira, I am using the Mono coins you gave me."

"I'm good," I deny awkwardly.

I was grateful when Akira steps in, "I heard you fought with M."

"I didn't fight! I mean- it's just he said you were going to kill someone, and then he said you might just kill me, but then he made it worse by saying maybe I'll just kill you," Danny rambles, "and it just made me mad because- because..."

"Because it could be true?"

Danny's eyes went wide, "what? No!"

"Sorry, but it's nice to know you won't resort to that," Akira apologizes, "and I won't either."

Danny gave a little smile but grimaced, "it made me mad because it showed me how little I can do! I can either abandon my sister or kill someone or die."

"That's not true, and is your sister in your motive letter?" Akira asked.

"Yeah, my little sister Giselle, it said something about her being hurt and needing to be rescued before it's to late," Danny said holding up the letter for us. Akira pulled out hers and suddenly I felt like I was intruding. What right do I have to listen to their problems if I can't even relate, family was always a subject lost on me. I tiptoe out of the school store and head to the pool to find M. M is a pretty stoic guy and apparently a dick with family problems too, maybe I can talk to him instead.

Once I reach the pool I find James and Evan sitting in pool chairs while M swam around.

"Why the pool?" I ask, approaching them.

"Yukihiro was murdered here, I figured this was the one place I would be left alone," M replies, I wince at the logic.

Suddenly with a click the world goes dark and in the 10 seconds the lights went out I hear a strangled yelp. Once light returned I turn to Evan curious, but it wasn't him because he looked just as confused.

"M, was that you?" James jokes, "You're not scared of the dark are you?"

M's glare was worthy of a Super High School level Assassin, and the hands that shot from the water to topple James's chair were just as precise. James splashed into the water with a girly shriek.

"M! Now I have to change!" James fumed, his flouncy beach blonde hair was now taking the characteristics of a 90's boy band style.

"You should get a flashlight from the storage room," Evan inputs, with not a drop of water on his grey suit, "unless you want to spend the next black out blind."

"How do you know there will be a blackout?" I ask.

"The lights keep flickering far too much for it to not happen, and it's better to be safe than sorry," Evan replies.

M gets out of the pool immediately, "James, let's get a flashlight."

"Oh, so you are afraid of the dark," I snark.

"What do you mean, the flashlight will be for James and I will just hold onto it," M corrects, "come on let's go before another black out happens."

M then rushed out, James heaved himself out of the pool, weighed down by his wet clothes. But strangely James did look happier.

"Did something happen?" I ask.

"Ah no, just something I was worried about turned out to be nothing," he replied. Evan stood up and the three of us left together to the storage room.

As I was making small talk with James the light flickered, "oh, again? I hope the power doesn't go out for to long," I say, but as soon as I said it the hallway went black with a click. Great, figures I would jinx it.

"Woah, it's pitch black," James shouted, "are you still there Sanyu, Evan?"

"Calm down idiot, we haven't moved," was the angry reply to my left.

"We need to find M, he doesn't like the dark!" James fretted.

"He probably already got a flash light!" I comment, "He was a lot farther ahead then us."

"Keep talking, I'll find you by your voice," Evan grumbles, and foot steps were my only sign he was moving.

I then felt a cold hand touch my shoulder, "oh, Evan I thought you were going to James?" I ask.

"Sanyu, I am with James," Evan said slowly, his voice further off. Sweat beads down my face as I shakily turn to the hand, I was met with a Monokuma mask shadowed in its flash light. I scream and scramble away, colliding straight into (what I assume) James and Evan, the three of us tumble down. I sat up with a groan, nursing my new stinging elbow as a light is shone in my eye.

"Gahaha!" Monokuma 55 cackles, "oh-oh that was great! Come on we're going to the gym." Not wanting to be left in the dark for any longer, the three of us followed after him. But as we walked down the stairs we were met by the floor gate, it must have closed when the power went out.

55 held up a walkie talkie and spoke into it, "Hey dumbass, get the back up power to the second floor gate."

The gate then clicked and whirred open. Soon we arrived in the gym, I couldn't see anyone else but I do think I heard Akira and Danny talking, so everyone must be here.

"I am very disappointed," said the unmistakable, if less announced, voice of the announcer, "I had hoped me being on this stage would be reserved for the glorious despair of a motive, but you've forced my hand."

"Just get on with it and tell us what happened to the lights!"

"What happened to the lights? You- _you_ all happened to the lights!" Announcer screeches, stomping the ground in anger, "every last one of you turned on the lights and cranked everything to max."

"What does that matter?" Evan says nearby.

"Rule number 7: Don't be wasteful with our resources. Was there for a reason! We don't have as much energy to be kicking around like in the first killing game, we don't have unlimited resources to provide you brats with!" Announcer stops her fuming with a another grand stomp, "Overload the grid next time and we might not be able to get it back online, so unless you want to suffocate I expect you all to be more conservative," she hisses.

"Is- is the air purifier on right now?"

"Yes, it's on a separate generator then the lights," the announcer informs, "but do this again and we'll destroy it just to spite you- now get out!"

"Wait when will the lights be back?"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

* * *

 **Well this is a bit shorter then normal but it's necessary, and thank you for your reviews, they're all so wonderful! Now that big question of whose despair and if you guessed right, will be answered... next time on Despair Clean-up Crew!**


	17. Chapter 3: I is for Insult

By the time I woke up next morning the lights were back, the only evidence of the power outage even happened was how hot it is. The power outage had caused the air conditioning to cut out so now the whole place was stagnant and humid. I almost didn't put my jacket on but eventually I decided to just wear it and overheat.

"Wakey wakey, egg and... despair!" The PA crackled, I rolled my eyes at the bad joke, "it is now day time! And remember to keep power consumption to a small, not to save the planet because that's already dead, rathr we don't want any submitters to feel cheated when their character dies because of a mishap!"

I left my room and continued on to the cafeteria where everyone was eating. I went to check out the fridge for something to eat but when I opened it I was met with a horrible smell. I gag and slam the door shut.

"I didn't make it in time to warn you, but don't open the fridge," Yoshiki says from behind me, "something smells terrible in there so I think everything is spoiled, and I'm pretty sure there's a milkshake in there from the first motive."

"Why hasn't anyone cleaned it out?" I ask disgusted.

"They haven't had time, we are all distraught by this motive," Yoshiki explains.

"I keep seeing some people worried about this motive, is it really that hard?"

Yoshiki looked uncomfortable, "of course this motive will be hard, everyone has family, even me."

"Do you really care that much about your family?" I ask.

Yoshiki raises a eyebrow, "Usually it's assumed one does."

I shrug, I guess it's true, "My dad never did so I always assumed it was the same for everyone?" I admit.

"Parents should always care for their kids," Yoshiki admonished sternly, "they should do everything they can no matter the consequences."

"I see," I didn't really see, but that sounds like what I should say.

Yoshiki crossed his arms, "You don't really understand, and that's fine."

Yoshiki then leaves and I turn back to the fridge, only to jump when I come face to face with M picking through the shelves.

"M? Don't go in there everything is spoiled," I warn, but M just shrugs and closes the fridge.

"I have better things to do anyway."

M leaves dodging James as he walked in.

"The kitchens pretty popular," I comment, suddenly I remember I'm hungry and I pick through the cabinets until I find some stale pastries. I eat one and then offer one to James, "these things are hard as a rock, you want one?"

"I'll pass," James laughs, "besides I have a protein shake in the fridge." James reaches into the fridge and pulls out the supposed 'milkshake from the first motive', and leaves taking the smell with him. Now that the smell was gone I picked through the fridge finding nothing spoiled, I push past a glass bottle of Dr. Hopper for the delicious sub sandwich in the back. Nothing wrong with a little brunch.

I go back into the cafeteria and sit with Danny and Akira, "What do you guys want to do today?" I ask.

Danny shrugs, "I haven't been to the recreations room yet, and I want to check it out."

And so we went to the third floor but not before I ran into something on the third floor stairs. I felt a small tickling on my face and leapt back in horror at the silvery thin tread in front of me, "Ew! A spider web!"

"A spider, all the way down here?" Danny mumbled. I looked up, but I couldn't see the web it was connected to but it disappeared around the gate to the stairs.

Akira's face scrunched up in disgust, "Leave it alone, I don't want some spider falling on me because you decided to tear down it's web."

I ducked under the web strand and continued on. The recreation room was like every other thing in the school, exactly the same as in the first killing game, but it was fun. I played a round of pool with Akira before switching off with Danny, and during their rounds I played darts. Shwoop! Hell yeah 90 points! We continued on this way for awhile and I think I grew closer to Akira and Danny today.

"You guys want to see some magic tricks?" Danny suddenly spoke up.

Akira raised a eyebrow, "What brought that on?"

Danny looked sheepish, "The ambiance? This place looks like where my magic shows are usually booked, that or a kids birthday party

I felt my enthusiasm grow exponentially, "Yes, more magic!"

"Sparkling, he's sparkling!" Akira exclaims.

Danny pulled out his deck of cards that I gave him, "This place really doesn't have much equipment for magic, so I'm pretty much limited to cards and scarfs."

Danny then preformed a impressive magic trick, so impressive I can't even put it into words and explain it to the audience.

"Could you teach me how to do that?" Akira asks when he finishes.

"Impossible, you can't just teach magic," Danny denied before considering, "but I do know some regular card tricks that are more your skill."

Danny then handed me the sleek deck and taught me a simple shuffling trick, "Ok, our beautiful assistant Akira will pick a card and when she puts it back just do it like I showed you."

Akira blushed at the compliment and took a card and then gave it back, I shuffle the deck unsure if I was doing it right, once satisfied I pull out a card, "Is this your card?" I ask.

Akira shakes her head no, getting nervous I pull out another, "How about this one?" Once again she denies it.

Danny laughs at my attempt, "Play it up, if you don't look into it then the audience won't either. You just got to make it look bigger then it actually is."

I hold up the deck again, "Pick a card, any card," I shout, my face hot and embarrassed at the cheesy line. Akira holds back a laugh and picks a card, I then take it back and shuffle the deck like Danny showed me.

"Is this your card?" I shout with all of the confidence I can muster.

Akira gives a hesitant smile, "Y-yes?"

My eye twitched at the blatant lie.

"It's ok Sanyu, some of us just aren't attuned to the magical world," Danny reassures, he takes the deck and hands it to Akira.

"I guess it my turn to be the magician and you the beautiful assistant," Akira jokes. Akira preforming the act was far better entertainment then I could manage, and I found I liked it better when I'm the one being wow'ed and not the wow'er.

The door to the recreations room opened introducing James, M, and Evan into the fray.

"Oh hey you three," Akira barely acknowledges, too focused on a new trick Danny was showing her.

I walk up to the three, "You want to play some darts or something?" I ask.

"But I don't see any knives?" M stated confused.

"Ignore him."

I jump at Akira's shriek then resulting laughter, "You ass, that scared me!" I turn around to her giggling and Danny's horror.

Danny took her words as a sign to panic, "O-oh, it did? I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Relax it was fun scare, like a haunted house or a horror movie," Akira reassured.

"Those don't sound all that fun," I butt in, "what did you do anyways?"

Danny turned to me his intentions unclear, "I'll show you."

Danny held up a small white scarf in his hand, I lean in closer curiously. A green thing jumps out of the scarf, I scream when it lands on my face. After I calmed down a little I see it was a little origami frog.

"Sorry Sanyu, I didn't mean to scare you," Danny apologized as he picked up the paper amphibian, though I didn't believe him. He then pushed down on its back end, sending it flying off again towards M.

"Ugg, frogs," M groaned.

"It's not even real," Evan sighed, catching the thing from it's slow decent.

"It's still gross," was Ms reply, "I can't stand frogs, with their slimy texture, and their loud croaks, and how it's wasteful and improper to assassinate them."

James snickers, "You would 'assassinate' frogs?"

M averted his gaze, his face almost matching the color of his light red hair, "Disregard that statement."

Evan rolled his eyes and looked the origami frog over before setting it down, "It looks old? Have you had this for awhile?"

Danny seemed to shrink in on himself, his shyer aspect coming forward, "It's stupid."

That was apparently a good enough answer for Evan, who didn't press the subject further. I on the other hand got more interested, if this killing game has taught me anything, it's to ask questions.

"I'm sure it wasn't stupid," I say, trying to subtly prompt him to say more.

"You know, for a guy who won't say a thing about himself you've really gotten noisy lately," Danny replied, "but I guess your right, it's not that stupid, I got it from my sister... she used to be into that kind of thing before the incident."

I nod, I remember to before the Tragedy... Back when I was still with my older brother...

I decide to leave Danny alone and go back to the trio.

"I just don't see why everyone is able to bounce back with this motive," I admit, "I was told you were supposed to do anything for your family no matter the consequences."

James frowned, "In a way that's true, but it is also a lot more complex then that."

"You can't just shutdown," M advises, "if you do that then nothing will ever happen, you need to keep going forward."

James looked stunned for a second, "Wow, M that was really considerate for y-"

"That's why I assassinate anyone in my way, can't stop your progression if they're dead."

James rolled his eyes, "There it is."

Evan looked at me, "Sanyu your very persistent with this motive, it's almost like you want everyone to be distraught."

"It's less of wanting others to suffer, but more of a not knowing what to think," M added, he then faced me, "isn't that right?"

"That's not true," I deny wearily, but there was no effort in it.

Before I knew it another hour had passed and I began to get hungry again, I excused myself from the festivities and went down to the cafeteria. But in the way there I was intercepted by Kojiro who handed me a piece of paper and discreetly left. This must be the note Haruna was talking about yesterday, I look around to make sure I was alone before reading it.

Sanyu come to my room at 5 sharp, I have something important to discuss with you. Come alone!

I stared at the letter, me meeting Haruna... alone... My face went red. I still had time to kill so I went to eat before the meeting. Once it was 5 o'clock I went to my final destination, I knock on it and wait for her to answer. The door swings open and I'm met with Kenta instead, I check to make sure I got the right room.

"This is the right place," Kenta says as he surveys the hallway, "no one saw you coming, right?"

Kenta pulls me into the room and shuts the door, and I'm met with... with... a lot of people actually. In the small dorm was Kenta, Kojiro, Haruna, and Veliah. Two girls three dudes? Well I'm not against it, it's just more then I expected...

"There's five of us here?" I point out.

"Actually there's 6 of us coming," Veliah informs. Just as she said that M walked in and joined us.

"Yep, now I bet your all wondering why I called you all here?" Haruna announces, I lean forward, the room collectively hold its breath.

"We are here to discuss despair," she finishes.

"Aw what?"

"Despair? That's it?"

"Damn it."

My mood immediately deflates. Of course they'd want to meet for despair, why else would we all be here?

Harunas face scrunched up in annoyance, "What? What the hell were you all expecting?"

I then registered the inconsistency, "But you said there was only five despair?" I ask Kojiro, "Counting M that's 6."

"I'm not despair," Haruna rolls her eyes, "I got Kojiro to tell me who's despair, and I'm willing to help you guys."

"Way to keep a secret," Veliah sighs.

"Just get on with the meeting," Kojiro frowns.

"Fine, the reason I called all of us here is because we need to talk about how obvious you all are!" Haruna states, "I swear I can give you all a gift and three sentences later you tell me all your darkest secret!"

"Obvious about what exactly?" M asks.

"On how your despair!" Haruna yells exasperated.

Kenta raises his hand, "um yeah, what's the problem with that?"

"You guys are all past despair, me and the others are not," Haruna said sadly, "revealing you all are despair will just make them suspicious of you for no reason."

"You don't know that."

"I can guess," Haruna replied hard, "just a few days ago everyone talked about how despair could possibly be the mastermind."

"But what if they're right?" Veliah says solemnly, "We don't know which one of us is the mastermind."

"Your saying that like the mastermind is here with us," Kojiro points out.

"We don't know if it isn't," Veliah replies contemplating, "with the Mono teachers and the Monokuma AI this mastermind can have others do everything indirectly with out alerting suspicion."

"Ugh, we aren't here about the mastermind, we're here because you all need to learn subtlety," Haruna interrupts, "and talking about the mastermind doesn't help your case."

Kenta rolled his eyes, "Ok Haruna, since you know what to do why don't you tell us our next plan of action?"

"Simple, I want no one to even mention Despair," Haruna commands, "avoid the issue and it won't be a issue, got it."

Everyone exchanged glances, not wanting to go with the plan but also having nothing to argue it with.

"Well, I hear no disagreement so meeting dismissed!" Haruna declares. Everyone rushed out taking the escape while they could, but Kenta and Kojiro were snagged by Haruna and pulled back in, "I set up your meeting, now hold up your end of the deal," she smiled ominously, Kojiro and Kenta were released and left immediately.

Before I left I wanted to ask Haruna something, "Haruna I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Well, I'm just wondering why your helping us considering you're not a despair?" I ask quietly.

"Sanyu, what did we just talk about," Haruna scolded, "but to answer your question, I want to be on your good side I mean there's no telling what you despair are capable of when crossed."

"You're helping us because you don't want us to kill you?" I asked shocked, jeez she couldn't have found a better reason?

"Technically- I've got a deal going with Kenta and Kojiro," Haruna adds, "that those two and everyone else in despair will be my bodyguards and keep me safe or else!" Haruna grabs my hand and gives it a high five, before pushing me out of her room.

Once I entered the hallway I catch up with Kojiro and Kenta, "What kind of deal did you make?" I ask exasperated. Kenta just shrugs and Kojiro has the decency to look uncomfortable.

M turned around as well and walked back to join us, "Deals?"

"We couldn't have despair meeting up in our room or it would have been to obvious," Kojiro explain, "so we got Haruna to do it, by promising that if any despair were to kill, she would be safe."

My mind boggled, "That's a terrible reason? We've had two successful class trials, just because one of us wasn't despair it won't throw everyone off track!"

M nodded, "You should have had her sign a contract, now you won't have any legal evidence if she goes back on her words."

Kenta snorts, "Kojiro just didn't want admit he got tricked into giving Haruna the list of despair, so he made up this bullshit deal with her to make it look like it was his plan all along."

"You think I'm happy about this?" Kojiro snapped, then shivered, "I swear, I can feel her lecherous gaze still following me."

Kenta rolled his eyes, "She's turning me into the new ultimate maid now that the spots open."

My eye twitched at the comment, "Yukihiro was a far better maid then you."

"But she isn't here now, so I'm better by default," Kenta mocked, but I could tell he didn't really mean it meanly.

Haruna poked her head out her door, "You weirdos have been hanging outside my door for like 15 minutes, get lost or I'll tell everyone whose despair."

As the door slammed shut, every evil deed Haruna could do raced through my head, "You better get that list back."

Kenta went to reply but was stopped short when the lights cut out again. Damn it! Can't I go a chapter without these lights going out?! But this power outage was different from the first one because this time I feel a tremor run through my body and a earth shattering crash. The lights stayed out for too long before flicking to life.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS!" The PA screams to life filled with static, "What did we say? WHAT DID WE SAY? Don't Use To MUCH POWER!"

I turn to Kenta and Kojiro who put their hands up in a sign of 'wasn't me'. M was stoic and standing rigid with a flashlight in his hand.

"Do you want a penalty, because we can cut your pinkies off any day!" The PA threatens, suddenly the PA shuts off only to then come back, with a few labored breaths the speaker calmed down, "I have just been informed that this was a permitted rule break, carry on."

"Hey," Akira calls us from the opening of the hallway, "you guys want to go find out what the hell that was?"

"Hell yeah we do!" Haruna shouted, bursting out of her room soaking wet, "I couldn't see my shower in the dark and accidentally turned it on."

The six of us head out searching the school, we didn't find anything on the first floor and began on the second instead. Haruna ran ahead, eager to get her revenge. I looked into the closest room when Haruna let out a piercing scream of horror, I was about to get annoyed at her over reaction until I saw the reason for it.

"Oh my god," I said in disbelief, I clapped a hand over my mouth suddenly sick.

"What? Who was- holy shit!" Kenta reacted, back peddling at the sight, "that's- that's hardcore."

"A body has been discovered!" The PA announced, but I barely heard it. The body was splayed out on the floor in front of the stairs, landed like they had simply tripped down them, blood was all over the floor and more was still pouring out. It wasn't as butchered as Grants death but hell was this brutal—the body was headless—severed from the neck, and the head was gone. What the hell had the kind of power to take someones head off, who had that kind of motivation?

"Did you find a body..." Akira asked worried, poised to help if the victim was still somehow alive, and trailed off at the sight, "What... how...?"

Kenta shook out of his stupor by the arrival of Akira, and walked over to the body, "Well, I guess we will have to find the head?" He said looking around, "oh wait there it is," Kenta walked to the nearest wall and nudged a large round object before picking it up, "oh... sorry guys, it's James." Kenta walks over to the body and does his best to line it up with the head.

"That's, oh- don't move it again," I beg, Haruna is still shrieking in horror and I'm about ready to join her. Akira shuffles far away from the body and takes Haruna hand and leads her away from the scene, setting her in the library.

"Who did this?" M grits from behind me. I turn around to see his impassive face somehow radiating anger.

* * *

 **Yo! Another chapter and another murder, also a reveal of who is despair. I don't have much to say other than the next chapter is already in the works!**


	18. Chapter 3: N is for Names

I stare down at the body, it was hard to believe that just a few hours ago I was talking to him and now I can't even look at him. I wipe my nose with my sleeve, and grow a bit angry. Who the hell does the killer think they are? not even leaving James with a intact body, what did he ever do to anyone?

Monokuma 55 wasted no time in getting to us, handing off the clipboard with the Monokuma file. Kojiro flipped through it, M and Kenta leaning over his shoulder.

After they finish, Kojiro comes up next to me holding the Monokuma file, "Want to look at the file?" He asks handing it off to me.

I grab it and look at the clip bored.

 _Victim: James Guzman_

 _"The time of death was around 5:40"_

 _"Instant death due to beheading"_

 _"Other then the cut off hand their are no other injuries"_

 _"Murder took place at the 3 floor stairwell"_

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Monokuma File**

"The only useful thing is the time provided," I comment.

"Not necessarily," Kenta said peering over my shoulder, "we know no one moved the body, and that a alibi around 5:40 will be pretty airtight because of the instant death."

"I guess we should all split up, some check the first floor and the second, and we'll stay with the body," I suggest. Akira and Danny volunteered to check the first floor, Haruna had just rejoined us and seemed marginally calmer. So it was decided Kenta, Kojiro, Me, and M would stay with the body. I absently notice a few absences too, where was Yoshiki, Veliah and Evan?

"We've got another area," Haruna cuts in, "We have to check the third floor too."

I stopped and looked at the only entrance to the third floor which was thoroughly blocked by a dead body. I feel myself slump, not investigating the third floor wasn't a option when the killer could have easily hidden evidence.

"Someone has to go upstairs," I say, "Kenta, you go."

Kenta pulled a face, "I may not care about the murder but that doesn't mean I'm stepping in that."

M volunteered stoically, "I'll do it," M then stepped carefully around the body, going as far as to tiptoe over a puddle of blood, then continued up the stairs. I never really considered it because of M's stoic disposition, but he must have considered James some kind of friend, and seeing him being so tedious with keeping the body untouched makes the notion more probable.

"Why do you think he was on the stairs?" Haruna asks, nudging the body with her foot. Kenta puts out a hand and stops her from doing again.

"Leaving the third floor?" I suggest.

"Backwards?" Kojiro questions sarcastically.

"What do you mean backwards?"

Kenta gestured to the body, "Unless James wears his clothes backwards, I say he died facing up."

Looking now I see he was right, it was just hard to notice with James's head not being aligned correctly.

Haruna then snickered, "How did he fall backwards if he was going up? You would think the Super High School Level Kickboxer would have good balance."

Haruna was right, I don't think James was the kind of guy to lose his balance that badly, and even if he did, he should have fell forward not back. The body was also a little bit away from the stairs, like he had more momentum to go father out.

I crouched down next to James body, Kenta doing the same before whistling, "Well, other then the obvious, his wrist is severed too, maybe it got cut off protecting himself?"

"I don't know?" I admit, I looked down trying to focus the best I could and something felt odd, the injuries were strange? I stared at the severed hand and head and then I realized it, the wounds were too clean and straight, like James just laid down and someone took a ruler and drew straight through. The blood around him also followed this path, a thick line formed with dried blood.

"You see it too," Kojiro comments from behind me, "even with my artist skills I can't sever a head like that."

I go to reply when something wet drips on my cheek, I wipe my face and look at my hand to see smeared blood, "What?"

Kojiro stands straight and looks up, "Blood on the ceiling? Was it splattered during the murder?"

"No, but that's close," Kenta says, who apparently has already figured out the real answer but won't tell us, "I think I know what happened, but I've got no clue on how or why."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Line of Blood/ Blood Drops**

I sighed, "We can figure it out in the trial."

M was accompanied by Yoshiki when he came back from the third floor, "Me and Yoshiki met on the third floor... I didn't find anything suspicious."

I guess that explains where Yoshiki was, but why was he on the third floor?

Yoshiki glanced at M before adding his own thoughts, "I didn't see anything either, no blood, no weapons, nothing."

"I was wrong, there is something we missed," M suddenly corrected himself, "the wire."

Yoshiki look around confused, "What wire?"

M points up at ceiling at what I thought was a spider web before, but was in reality a fine clear wire, "It's attached to the gate, I don't know why."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Spider String/wire**

Yoshiki contemplates the information, "You think James put it there?"

"Maybe?" I shrug unsure, "I saw it earlier today, around morning, so whatever it is, it wasn't just put up."

Yoshiki nods, before looking concerned, "There really isn't much to go from here, besides what's obvious."

"Do you have any clues?" I ask M, but M's taciturn expressions gave nothing away.

We begin to check over the body but we don't find anything new, which is a little concerning.

"Hey Sanyu, you want to go investigate somewhere else?" Haruna asks, bringing my attention away.

"Oh ok?" I agree unsure, Haruna smacks me on the back.

"That's my guy!"

We walk down stairs to the first floor, where Haruna quickly steers us to the cafateria.

"Well I'm thirsty and there's a killer on the loose, so I need my despair bodyguard," Haruna stated like it was obvious.

"I could be the killer for all you know," I say.

"Sanyu, someone like you couldn't kill someone like James," Haruna scoffs, "that's why I picked you."

"Thanks." I reply rolling my eyes.

Haruna scoffs before pointing down the hallway, "Look, Akira's right there so go have fun with her while I get my drink."

"Ugh, that sounds like something my dad would say," I groan, dad had a bad habit of abandoning me to get plenty of 'drinks'.

"Ya know, that sounds messed up," Haruna says leaning in, "but I don't care right now." Haruna then leaves for the cafeteria, behind me M comes down the stairs.

"I wanted to ask before it was to late but have you seen Danny, and Evan?" M asks.

"Oh Danny is with Akira so if you find her you find him," I inform, "but I haven't seen Evan at all."

M nods, lost in thought. Yoshiki comes down stairs too, but he doesn't bother to talk to us, in fact he even speeds up. Bothered by the blatant disregard I decided to join someone who actually appreciates me.

I join up with Akira, I thought I would see Danny too but I guess this as one of the rare times they were split up. I wonder if I should tell M, he was wondering where Danny was.

"Where's Evan and Veliah?" I ask, After M brought it up now I'm a little worried.

"Evans on the first floor too, but it's probably best if you leave him alone," Akira suggests, "and Veliah been missing this whole investigation, and I'm really worried." I thank her and go look around anyways, I should probably listen to her warning but I want to be sure Evan is ok myself, and maybe I'll find Veliah along the way.

I find Evan on the first floor near the incinerator, "Hey Evan, why are you down here?" I ask.

"I'm looking for evidence," Evan explains vaguely.

"Why not check out the body then?" I ask confused.

"Well not everyone wants to see the dead body of their friend," Evan snaps coldly. He then leaves the room. Whoops, I probably should have knew that... maybe I could tell M, the three of them were friends and could help each other get through this? I saw him down here earlier, maybe he still is?

I go to the cafeteria finding Haruna drinking the Dr. Hopper, we stand in the doorway.

"Is now really the time for a drink?" I ask, a little grumpy because I wanted to drink that later.

Haruna took a swig before settling the bottle down on the floor just outside the cafeteria, "Do you... remember what Yukihiro said before she died, how she wanted us all to escape and team up?" I nod remembering how she offered us all a chance to come with her and look for her sister, a goal to look forward to, "This motive has got me thinking about that, maybe when this is said and done we can bust into the Masterminds lair and see if they got any information!"

We walk fully into the cafeteria letting the doors swing shut behind us, and sit at the tables. The door briefly opens but no one comes in though, so I don't think much of it.

"That's a great idea, they're bound to have a lot of stuff we can use to help others when we escape or else they wouldn't have even been able to create this killing game," I respond excited, "and the information on the family's can lead us to Yukihiro's sister!"

I heard a piercing scream that left my ears ringing. I was stunned trying to process the sound, but Haruna didn't hesitate as she grabbed my hand and then dragged me after her as she ran. I could see her soccer skills coming through as I was stumbling to keep up with her pace.

Haruna turned and stopped on a dime while I ended up sliding into the wall. For a brief pause Haruna stood like a deer in the headlights before I saw a black figure run past us. Haruna reacted fast and if she was just a second faster she could have clothesline the person, but they ducked and escaped.

"It's got to be Yoshikis killer why else would they be running away!" Haruna yelled as she took off down the hallway after the hooded figure. It took me too long to process what she said, I shakily look down the dorms hallway to see a bloody body. It was Yoshiki, he was laying on his side, with his arms and hands around his throat covered in blood.

"A body has been discovered- uh, another one!?" The PA says shocked, "two of them? Awesome!"

James and Yoshiki are both dead? How can two be dead already? I heard a sound of something splatter before I even registered Danny in the hallway. I watched as Danny wiped his mouth with his sleeve grimacing.

"Did you just puke?" I ask concerned, I must have startled Danny because he jumped before turning to me frightened.

"O-oh, it's just you Sanyu," He said relieved, he glanced down at his feet, "Yoshiki... he's... I-I saw him get.. k-kil-"

"I know," I say stopping him, no need to make this more traumatic. Danny must be pretty shaken up right now if he saw Yoshiki get murdered right in front of him. I looked at Yoshiki and felt myself grow sad, I liked him he was a good person just like James.

Danny was staring absently at the body and I don't think that was a good thing, what would Akira do? Maybe move Danny away like how she does with Haruna? I decide that's the best course of action.

"Hey Danny, let's go find the others!" I say, distracting him, he nods distracted, "I'm sure Akira would want to know about this," That seems to get his attention.

"You're right!" Danny exclaimed, "Akira, she has medical knowledge! She could help Yoshiki!"

Help him? But he's already dead. Is what I not say, "Ok!" I agree instead. Together we find Akira in the hallway pacing back and forth, she notices us immediately and relief floods her face.

"Is it true?" She asks, grimacing.

Danny rushed up to her, "Akira, thank god we found you maybe you can do something?!"

Akira looked at Danny before nodding, "I'll see if I can do anything to help..."

Danny went back the way we came looking over his shoulder to make sure Akira followed, Akira leans closer to me before she left, "I'll do the investigation on Yoshiki, I saw some hooded person run past with Haruna after them."

"Thank you, I'll go tell the others so they don't get away," I promise, Akira then briskly followed Danny.

I run back up stairs, skipping steps as I went. I was worried I had already wasted to much time and the killer had gotten away. But I didn't need to worry as someone in a hood rushed past me, jumping down the steps before Haruna appeared like a wild bull.

"Sanyu help me get the jackass!" Haruna yells.

The mystery killer lead us on a wild goose chase, they seemed to disappear every time we thought we caught them. They seemed to know what they were doing and managed to avoid where the others were investigating almost perfectly. I think the only people who actually knew about the killer was Danny, Haruna, Akira, and me.

More then once they slipped past us and more then once we almost lost them.

"Over there!" I hear Haruna shout and point down the hallway at the hooded figure. Both of us barreled after them but was out of sight until we heard a loud shout of pain and a thud. We go to the noise and back to James's body, it was sprawled out in a different position now and glass shards were scattered around. Haruna stops at the seen hesitating at the fear of stepping on the body before she just hops over.

"No, we lost the hooded jackass," Haruna shouts at the top of the stairs, "their up here but I don't know where!" Haruna then comes down back to me and glares at the body.

"Why did the 'Hooded Jackass' trip here of all places?" I ask, the killer was so skilled at dodging us so why mess up here?

"Hooded jackass tried to go around James and slipped in the blood," Haruna observes, she points at a smear in the blood close to the wall, "then tripped over the body, don't know why, hooded jackass could have easily jumped over?"

Then why not jump over? Could it be they didn't want to risk touching the body? Observing the smear I notice something else. Glass shards and lots of them, they had a greenish tint to them.

"There's glass?" I point out, Haruna squats down and squints.

"There's a picture on the shards," Haruna says, picking a piece up and angling it different ways, "There's too much blood on them, it's hard to tell."

I try and gather the ones with print on them and I piece the shards together and after cutting my finger I'm rewarded with the letters, "Opper."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Broken Glass with Moved Body/Opper**

"The hell does that mean?" Haruna curses.

"I don't know," I shrug.

"What are you doing?" Kenta asks from behind me.

"Where were you?" Haruna asks, "if you were here you could have stopped hooded jackass my bodyguard."

Kenta looked confused, "Hooded jackass? Wait you mean Yoshikis killer?" I nod, "Well I was investigating Yoshikis body and I found some pretty interesting things, I bet your wondering what they are?"

"That's great," Haruna replies flippant, Kenta looks disappointed at the dismissal, "we got hooded jackass cornered on the third floor, now both of you get up here and help me find them."

Kenta sighed before shrugging. The both of us lightly step around the body and go upstairs to the third floor. Once there Haruna volunteered to watch the stairs in case hooded jackass came back so she could, and I quote, 'give the asshole the Piledriver they deserved'

Me and Kenta crept along the hallway checking the rooms, "I wonder where the killer is hiding?" Kenta asked innocently, "I mean they could come from anywhere and kill us at anytime, such a shame."

"Are you trying to scare me?" I ask suspicious.

"Is it working?"

"No." I reply, but that was a lie now I'm actually freaked out. Yoshikis killer could be anywhere up here... I walked a little closer to Kenta, if there's two of us then that means we're safer.

The first room we checked was the art room but nothing was immediately obvious. The only new thing in the room were some paintings Kojiro must have done a few days ago, they were rather pretty. I was about to leave until Kenta reminded me of the back room art closet.

"You go first," Kenta told me, "and I'll look some more around here."

So jittery with nerves I opened the door to find the room dark, I walk in a step only to have the door shut behind me. I trip and fall screaming and stumble up to flick on the lights to find someone in the room with me holding a bloody wooden mallet. My screaming went louder and I kept yelling for a long time, to long of a time, I taper off when I hear laughter. That's when I recognized the man, it was Kenta, clutching his stomach and laughing his heart out.

"Your face oh my god," he cackled, angry I kick him in the shin, "ow! Just kidding, your little baby kicks do nothing to me."

"You asshole we're in a murder investigation!" I curse kicking him again, "where the hell did you get a bloody hammer?"

"Oh, I found it in the art room," Kenta says, dodging my blows and holding the mallet up. The item was covered in dried blood.

"Seriously?" I ask, "is that real blood?"

"Yeah, I think someone was hit by it, but I haven't seen anyone injured by a hammer."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Bloody wooden mallet**

"That's true," I consider, I wonder what it was used for? I then got a idea, "take it with you, if Yoshikis killer is up here we need to protect ourselves."

"You can," Kenta says passing the mallet to me, I clutch the handle and man was this thing heavy, that gothic lolita girl from the first game must have had some muscle to swing this. We exit the room and go back into the hallway.

Kenta stumbles in front of me, once he righted himself he picked something off the floor, "Oh it's a flashlight." Kenta notes, "this could be handy with all the blackouts we've been having."

"Why was there a flashlight in the hallway?" I question.

"Who cares," Kenta responded, shining the light in my eye, "also hooded jackass is behind you, just thought I'd let you know."

Kenta said it so nonchalant that I almost didn't believe his warning, but I turned around anyways and saw it was true. Hooded jackass caught sight of us at the same time too and ran away, straight into the physics lab. We quickly followed after but we were still far behind, once inside I looked around the place and observed the large machine filtering the air. I circle the machine slowly and I find someone on the other side, they were crouched low and pulling themselves up using the side of the air purifier. They were wearing a black hood.

"You! It's you!" I shout shocked. The hooded figure leapt back, backing into the corner before shakily standing up. The cape was on oddly, actually it was almost backwards, the hood halfway covering their face. I could see blood splatters on the black fabric and on the hem of the blue dress not covered. Hooded jackass pressed themselves against the wall, palms blindly gripped the machine to keep themselves up.

"Why are you here?" Hooded jackass slurred.

Something seemed wrong, why are they acting like this after leading us on that wild goose chase. We're they finally tired and ready to give up? Hooded jackass wavered in their spot and I raise up the mallet for protection. That was a bad idea apparently. Hooded jackass grabbed a knife off the floor and charged me, I scream and duck out of the way.

"What happened?" Kenta asks running over, he then expertly dodged a strike. Kenta then did something I thought was stupid, and grabbed the knife, stopping the next jab. Despite holding the blade of a knife Kenta seemed to be doing fine, as he then pulled his hand back and wrenched the knife away. Hooded jackass stood still before escaping, but not before running into the wall instead of the door.

"Ah, that hurt," Kenta sighs looking at his barely cut hand, "that knife was sharper then I thought..."

I pick up the fallen knife to find finger indents, so Kenta apparently has super human strength and I'm going to ignore it, "We should follow them."

We ran out after them again, and hear Haruna scream. That girl has got some strong vocals. We arrive to the scene of Haruna cursing up a storm and clutching the back of her head, the dry wall behind her had a head size dent in it. She let out a hissing sound and laid on the floor, proclaiming her death.

"Now you're just being dramatic," Kenta said.

"Are you ok?" I ask, she must have hit the wall pretty hard.

Haruna got up, "Yeah I'm fine, I've been told I have a hard head."

"Physically and mentally," Comments Kenta under his breath.

"Shut it emo," Haruna shoots a glare, "also Hooded jackass is here." Haruna points to the floor where hooded jackass was laying unconscious on the floor. But hooded jackass wasn't so hooded anymore, laying on the floor was Veliah. Her dress had blood on both sides and her hair had blood crusted into it, she was also very pale.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Veliah Bloody Cloak and Clothes**

"I guess we should tie her up?" I ask. Haruna bends down and scoops Veliah up in a bridal carry and walks down the stairs.

"I'm going to go lock her in my room, you guys go help out with Yoshiki," Haruna calls as she walks away.

Kenta and I joined everyone in the Yoshiki investigation. I join up with Evan.

"Find anything out?" I ask.

"I found Yoshikis motive letter but that's the newest thing," Evan sighs, he pushes up his glasses, "here, see if you can make anything out of it," Evan passes me a folded up paper.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Yoshikis motive letter**

I unfolded the paper to find frayed creases and taped up rips, Yoshiki must have torn it up then taped it back together? There was writing on it too, words like; 'gate', and 'tomorrow it will be finished go before then'. I gloss over that and read the motive.

 _Dear Mr. Yoshiki,_

 _I am entirely happy to inform you that your son is in great danger! He's in trouble with more then just the law now, your little bratty delinquent has pissed off some despair and, well, they don't play nice. Is your boy hiding for his life, wondering where his loyal father is? Or is he already dead? You'll just have to kill to find out._

There was a little sad character drawn at the bottom, mimicking what I assume to be Yoshikis son, because of the speech bubble connected to it that says, 'help me dad!'

Ouch, brutal. Yoshikis motive almost makes me feel better about mine, if everyone I love is already gone then there's no reason for me to worry. I fold the letter back up and give it to Evan.

M appears from thin air like usual, standing next to the body, "How messy," he disapproves with a sigh.

"Investigation time is over!" The PA squealed.

Haruna soon joins us supporting Veliah on her shoulder, they get a few stares at the blood on Veliah's dress.

Akira's eyes widen and she walks over to Haruna and Veliah, she then looks Veliah over with a unhappy expression, gently holding her head. I get on the elevator and soon we descended ready to name or killer or killers.

* * *

 **I'm going to miss James, and I wanted Yoshikis death to be out of left field because sometimes it's nice to be surprised. also I've been watching a play through of V3 and I'm really liking it so far, currently Kaito and Tenko are my favorite! So who do you all like best from V3? You Degenerate Males!? Though quick disclaimer, V3 won't influence this story, I have everything pre planned so it just won't fit in right.**

 **Honest opinion needed here, should I up the rating to Mature for this fic? I honestly can't tell if I should or shouldn't.**


	19. Chapter 3: G is for Gone

"Hello, hello," Monokuma greeted, his computer screen casting a harsh unnatural light on the room, "I see we have two victims this time, love the change, really spices things up."

I shrug and take my stand, it's getting easier to ignore that stupid AI. I observe the three new pictures, Alan from the last trial with little devil wings drawn on him to complement his hair, a joke in poor taste. James's picture had a thick line through the neck, once again, poor taste, and Yoshiki had two X's on either eye. I rolled my eyes at the pictures, and look around the room. Akira had Danny under a exhausted glare, while he was unsuccessfully trying to help the girl in the podium next to him. Veliah was unsteady on her feet, clutching the podium and putting on a strong face while adamantly refusing Danny's help, I wonder what's wrong with her? Probably scared of being found out and voted as the blackened.

Evan's eyes were diverted firmly on the ground, but every now and then he would twitch to look at James podium next to him, only to flinch away. M must have saw Evans actions too, by the way he looked sadder- if only slightly.

"Should we start with James or Yoshikis murder?" I ask unsure, the question hung in the air until Kojiro spoke.

"Let's start with James because he was first," Kojiro suggested, "then that could lead us to Yoshiki."

"Ok," Evan said resigned, his usual talent at trials seemed diminished, "someone read the Monokuma file."

Kojiro had both clipboards, one was James's file so the other must be Yoshikis but I didn't get to read it before.

"The victim was James Guzman, The time of death was around 5:40, it was Instant death due to beheading, Other then the cut off hand their are no other injuries, Murder took place at the 3 floor stairwell."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Monokuma File**

The first question that popped into my mind was the murder weapon, I can't just figure out what did that, "I want to address the cause of death," I said, "I just can't figure out what did it?"

M nodded, "What ever killed James had enough power to cut through a body."

Haruna hummed, "So, do you think someone super strong did it?"

Veliah gasped, then looks at Kenta nervously, "Kenta crushed my knife with his bare hands..."

Kenta rolled his eyes, "I'm not the killer, if you'd look at the body you'd realize that," Kenta narrowed his eyes and pointed accusatory, "but you were suspiciously absent from everything..."

"That doesn't matter right now," Haruna interrupts, "we are focusing on James murder right now, and so far I've got no clue how he got his damn head cut off."

"We also couldn't even find a murder weapon," Kojiro mentioned, "so what killed him must have been hidden or destroyed?"

"Do we even know what the weapon looks like?" Akira asks, "was there anything at the body that suggests what it looked like?"

I thought back to the investigation, was there anything strange with James's body?

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Line of Blood/ Blood Drop**

"Well their was something strange with the wounds that might connect with the weapon," I say unsure, "the wounds were really clean and straight, and their was a thick line of dried blood."

Kojiro aided me, "I remember that, it was almost a perfect line through him, even his cut off hand followed the strip."

Evan looked like he was deep in thought before speaking up, "You said there was a line of dried blood, maybe the blood dried around the weapon if it laid their long enough?"

"Then the murder weapon must have been long enough to span from wall to wall on the stair well," Kenta mused, "and heavy if it went through someone."

"Like a rod?" Haruna guessed, "Or maybe a floor board?"

"You guys are so close," Kenta chimes, "every stairwell has one!"

Something at the bottom of the stairs? That has enough power and is large enough to span the stairwell... maybe even block it... Suddenly it hit me.

"I've got it!" I shout.

Veliah groaned holding her head, "Do you have to yell?"

I apologize and speak quieter, "I know what the murder weapon is!-"

"Seriously?"

"it's the gate that blocks the stairs!" I finish.

"Huh?"

"Sanyu is right, somehow or another the gate that blocks the 3rd floor fell down and landed on James," Kenta revealed, he makes a chopping motion, "kind of like a guillotine."

Kojiro hits his fist into his hand, "Thats how blood got on the ceiling and how we couldn't find the weapon, the gate must have raised up out of sight above us."

Monokuma let out a laugh, "A good old vintage execution, can't diss a classic!"

"But how?" Evan asked, sounding a little lost, "The gate couldn't have just fallen randomly? And something like that falling must have made a sound?"

"It did," M replied, "don't you remember in the black out, there was the loud crash."

I remember back to the scene, I could feel the shudder through the school from the impact. The murder must have happened then and if I think about it the time frame makes sense.

"The black out?" Veliah asked confused, "There was another black out?

Haruna let out a exasperated sigh, "How could you miss it, the PA even threatened us until they decided not to."

"That's right, why didn't they continue out their threat, the power outage would have counted as a rule break for the seventh rule," Danny wondered.

"They said it was permitted remember," Akira said, "and we know permitted rule breaks are only allowed when they aid a murder."

Kojiro thought about it, "So the power outage and the gate falling must be connected? I mean they both happened at the same time so that by itself is suspicious."

I thought about what he said, the gate falling during the power outage is possible because... it's happened before, when the first big power outage happened and we were called to the gym for the announcement of the seventh rule. We were blocked on the stairs until 55 raised the gate.

"Yesterday I was on the second floor when the first blackout happened and when we were going to the gym the gate was down, could the power outage have triggered the gate to fall?" I ask the others.

Evan nodded in agreement, "I remember that, so the power outage must cut electricity to the gate making it power down and close."

"Isn't that, like, a huge fire hazard?" Haruna threw out.

Monokuma's Sprite was lying down, "It sure is, but I figured if you guys cause a fire big enough to kill you all then you deserve it."

"You guys don't think, that James died by accident?" Danny asked, fidgeting, "I mean, what if the power outage happened and that caused the gate to fall and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

I thought about what Danny said, it's entirely likely that could have happened but something contradicts that, "James died facing up with his legs pointed at the stairs, like he felled backwards from the stairs," I inform, "so I doubt he just walked into it."

"James wasn't the kind of guy to just lose his balance either," Evan added sadly, M nodded in agreement.

"And if that happened then the power outage wouldn't have counted as aiding a murder, it would have been just a accident," M continued.

"So you're suggesting the murderer caused the power outage and killed James with it?" Kojiro summarized.

"But how? How could the murderer cause a blackout?" Kenta asked. The room was silent as they thought on the question.

I've got no clue on how the killer could have done it, it would have been impossible for them to turn on the lights and use power the normal way or else we would have noticed it.

"What about that strange wire?" M says gaining our attention, "there was a wire connected to the gate, it looked almost electrical to me."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Spider String**

"It was there before the murder even happened," I remember, "I walked into it thinking it was a spider web."

"Maybe it was some sort of trap or trip wire?" Kenta deducts, "but the wire wasn't connected to anything so it would have been hard to trip it,"

"You could pull it," M counters, "just stand on the stairs and pull it and the trap would be triggered."

"Just push someone down the stairs and trigger the trap when they're under it, and boom, you've got a death machine," Haruna slammed her hand on the podium adding to her rendition.

"But we don't even know if that's what the wire does," Akira says, "no one ever tested it."

"Can we?" Kojiro asked Monokuma, "can we go back and test the wire, it would be more interesting then just explaining it?"

Monokuma was silent, and for a second I thought the damn AI crashed, but eventually he snapped back to life.

"I'll allow it," Monokuma determined, "but you can't do anything else, investigation time is over."

So the the trial was stalled, everyone got onto the elevator and then continued to the murder sight. It was a surreal experience when we did get their though, James body was gone and the blood had all been cleaned away, it looked like it never happened. Evan walked up to the area where the gate would be, he found the string and gripping gently, slowly ascended the stairs. Evan was three or four steps up and leaning forward a little to keep himself from pulling the wire, he observed his position and gave a slight pushing motion from where he was, which seemed to affirm something to him.

"This as far back as the killer could have gone and still have been able to pull the string," Evan informed, "now everyone stand back, I'm going to pull it now."

Everyone gave the stairs a wide berth, M seemed to tense up next to me, he must be worried about the darkness that will come with the power outage. I expected him to get out the flashlight he got before but he must have not brought it with him.

Evan gave a slight tug and the lights went out immediately, and a few seconds later my body shook with the crash that followed. I could feel the vibration in my stomach and my ears rang. Haruna also screamed but I'm used to that now.

Eventually the lights came back, quicker then the other times. With the lights we were able to see our suspicions confirmation, the gate was down and right where James body would have been. Evan was standing on the other side, he looked mad, his eyes scanned us all from the other side of the bars. Eventually the gate rose and he rejoined us, he went to stand with M, and the two started talking.

"So that confirms it, someone set a trap and James fell into it," Akira states.

"That's a problem though," Kenta said, almost worried, "because a trap could be set off at anytime, with no indications on who made it."

"So the killer wouldn't have to be present at the scene to kill."

"Alright, if your going to start talking do it in the trial room" A Mono-teacher complained, they then ushered us back into the elevator. Soon the trial resumed.

"So the killer was never at the scene of the crime?" Danny asked putting us back where we left off.

"That's not true, don't you remember the killer had to pull the string to activate it," Akira said, "so the killer had to be present."

"Then why make a trap in the first place?" Kojiro asked confused.

That is strange, why make a trap if just killing someone hands on would have had the same effect?

"I don't know if anyone else felt the same but the trap looked incomplete to me, I mean why not actually make a trip wire instead of having to awkwardly pull it?" Veliah imputed.

"...What if the killer and the trap maker, were different?" M suggested.

"That's very likely, the killer could have capitalized on the unfinished trap and killed James," Akira said, "But we have no way to prove this."

"The trap maker and the killer are different, because the creator would have known about the drawback to the incomplete trap," Evan said darkly.

A drawback? I thought back to when we tested it, could there have been something wrong with the mechanics? For it to work the killer would have to stand on the third floor stairs then drop the gate that separates the second and third floor... that's it!

"The killer would have trapped themselves," I reveal.

M nodded, "For the killer to work the trap they would have to be on the stairs, and when the trap is triggered the gate falls, trapping the killer on the third floor until the gate is raised."

"So tell me, who was upstairs?" Evan asked, a fearsome aura around him. The trial room was silent as everyone wracked their memories of the investigation, trying to put a name to the killer.

I ran through a mental check list of who was there at the investigation until there was four things I knew. One person who never showed up for the investigation, and one person who was late to join us. Two people who were found up stairs, but only one came down with M to help us before their demise.

"Yoshiki was upstairs..." I answer, I wait as realization sinks into the others.

Danny was shocked, "Yoshiki killed James?!"

"Do have any proof it was him, like- what even was his motive?" Haruna asked.

"But I do have proof," I reply pulling out a creased and crumpled paper, "Yoshiki had a motive right here."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Yoshikis motive letter**

"There's writing on it too, 'gate', and 'tomorrow it will be finished go before then'. Maybe Yoshiki found out about the trap and started to plan something and this is him writing stuff about it?" I add.

Kenta sighed before posing his question, "This is pretty daring evidence but how can we be sure it wasn't planted and that Yoshiki was even at the murder- we've never heard his alibi or anyone else's for that matter."

Akira looked reluctant before agreeing, "I think it is best we cover everything, if Yoshiki really is James killer then we need to know for sure, we won't be able to get a confession from a dead man."

Kenta laughed, "Well if we vote wrong we can ask him."

"You've got a a really weird sense of humor," Haruna points out, "meet me after this, I can teach you how to make some really good jokes!"

A mental image of Kenta and Haruna cackling in unison as they reigned terror on us, popped into my mind.

"Alibis," I interject, "say them now."

"Well, Me, Kenta, Sanyu, Veliah, M, and Kojiro were all together at 5 to around 5:30," Haruna listed.

"Me and Danny were together," Akira inputs, and at the sight of Haruna's cat like expression quickly adds, "we simply talked nothing else!"

Danny nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yoshiki doesn't have a alibi," Evan reinstated, "he did it, no doubt."

"Well you don't have one either," Kenta points out.

M spoke up at that, "Evan didn't do it, if he did he wouldn't have shown us how the trap worked or its fatal flaw."

"Thank you M, if we're bringing up suspicions, what exactly were all of you doing together for 30 minutes?" Evan asked Kenta and the rest of us in the alibi.

Sweat beaded down my temple, I glance around to see all of the despair standing stiffly. What do we do? We can't just tell them we're despair? Unfortunately Haruna decided to take matters into her own hands.

Haruna cut in, her voice leaving no room for questions, "We had a long conversation about whether or not robots have dicks, and if Monokuma counted as a robot."

The court room went dead silent, I heard Akira give a sputtering cough. Kojiro slapped his hand over his face, which was a fiery red.

Veliah thumped her head on the podium before speaking up, "That is-"

"Stop!" Danny shouts, frantically waving his out stretched hands, "I don't want that mental image of Monokuma, stop!"

Haruna smirks and winks at me, she probably thinks she did something great. I looked up at the Monokuma AI on the screen, it looked like it was in despair. Good.

"I just thought of something," Veliah says, dissipating the awkward atmosphere, "if Yoshiki killed James, and Yoshiki himself was killed-then we must have two different killers."

Haruna narrowed her eyes, "You would know that wouldn't you."

Veliah rolled her eyes before wincing, Veliah rested her head in her arms on the podium, "Monokuma, how will the trial proceed with two different killers?"

The Monokuma AI seemed to think deeply on that if his obnoxious 'hums' were any indication, "Let's see, Let's see... We will have two separate trials to determine the killers!"

My mind raced with the implications of that, "Will we vote twice too?" I ask almost afraid of the answer.

"YOU SURE WILL," Monokuma shouted, "but not right now, got to keep the flow of the chapter in mind."

"But wouldn't it make more sense for only the first murder to count?" Evan then asked, "or a bunch of people could murder and we'd end up with- for example 5 trials in a row?"

"To bad, so sad," Monokuma chimed.

"Then let's keep going," Evan sighed, "on to Yoshikis murder." The way Evan said it almost sounded like he way reluctant to do this.

"I'll read Yoshikis Monokuma file," Kojiro volunteers, "The victim was Yoshiki Kaiza, the time of death was around 6:00, the cause of death was a cut artery in the throat, the murder took place on the first floor."

"A cut throat?" I grimaced at my memory of Yoshiki on the floor clutching his throat, I guess the action makes more sense now.

"You weren't able to see Yoshikis Monokuma file because of the chase," Akira explained.

"What chase?" Evan asked, demanding explanation.

"Me, Sanyu, and Kenta chased the killer aaaallllll around the school," Haruna informed, "until we finally caught them on the third floor, where we finally exposed them."

Danny looked shocked, "You already know the killer?"

Haruna puffed out her chest, proud as can be, "It's Veliah."

Veliah looked baffled at the accusation, "Me, the killer?" Veliah was very calm for having just been accused of murder, one where all the evidence pointed to her.

"I found you in the physics lab which is where the killer ran into, and you were also wearing the hood the killer used," I accuse, I've got this trial in the bag! "Not to mention that cloak is definitely yours, I remember you wearing it since the beginning."

Veliah gripped her cloak slowly and seemed to go into a daze before taking it off, "I can't be the killer because look at me, it doesn't make... sense... because."

Veliah sentence became slurred and tapered off, her face went paler and sweat beaded on her forehead. I looked around the room to see if I was the only one seeing this. Could she be nervous at being discovered?

Akira then became angry at Veliah, "I said you needed rest, you've lost a lot of blood."

Veliah slurred a remark and sat on the floor wincing. I then felt very confused, what's going on?

Akira turned to the Monokuma AI, "Can we please get her some medical attention?"

Medical attention? Was Veliah hurt?

"Are you sure? If we take her out of the trial she won't be allowed back in, can you really risk losing such important information," Monokuma laughed.

"Anything she knows I will cover for," Akira promises, "You can blame me if we really do lose information, but Veliah needs professional medical attention."

"Come on, let Veliah go," Kojiro adds, "I mean, wouldn't this be so much more interesting if we didn't have all the answers?"

"I know what your trying to do," Monokuma replies impatient, but his Sprite changes into a laughing one, "and it's working, get her out of here!"

At the command two Monokuma teachers stepped out and escorted Veliah to the elevator where she then left. The court room was silent trying to figure out what just happened.

"I have a feeling you can explain what just happened best," Evan says to Akira who looks entirely ready to do just that.

"Simple, Veliah isn't Yoshiki's killer," Akira states, "she was far to injured to kill someone, let alone run away!"

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Veliah Bloody Cloak and Clothes**

"That's impossible, you saw her she was covered in blood and we found her in the physics lab with a knife!" I rebuked, "a knife that was used to kill Yoshiki!"

"Did you even look at her?" Akira asked angrily, "the blood splatters didn't match up, she had blood patches on her front and back of her dress and on her cape."

Haruna looks confused and agitated, "So?"

"I get it- the cape would have blocked the blood splatter so her dress should be spotless!" Kojiro points out, "are you suggesting Veliah was framed?"

"But Veliah wasn't present for the entire investigation until we found her," Kenta interjects.

"Because she was unconscious, I did a check up on her just before we started the trail and she had a bad concussion," Akira reveals, "she was injured and could have easily been knocked or even killed!"

"Do you have any proof she was hurt?" Danny asks, unsure, "I want to believe Veliah isn't the killer but she's sounding suspicious."

Akira settled me with a look, "Sanyu, you found Veliah and you helped chase Yoshikis killer, I need you to recount everything that happened."

"Ok, first me and Haruna heard a scream and we discovered Yoshiki dead and a frightened Danny," I start.

"Danny?" Kojiro asked.

"Yeah, I saw the murder happen- it was like the killer came from no where and the next think I knew Yoshiki was dead," Danny said, he looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry, if I had only payed more attention."

"It's fine Danny," I say, before continuing my recount, "Haruna and I started chasing the killer all around the school, the killer managed to expertly dodge us every time until we chased them up to the third floor where we think they slipped on James blood and shattered some glass, then Kenta and I cornered the killer in the physics lab and I went first with my mallet where we discovered Veliah who attacked us," I finish.

"You said you found glass?" Kojiro asks, "are you sure."

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Broken Glass with Moved Body**

"I'm positive, it wasn't there before the killer slipped so I believe the killer had it," I reply.

"That would make a lot of sense, you probably didn't get to check Yoshikis body but the slash on his throat was very rugged," Kojiro reveals, "it was far to messy for a knife to do, but broken glass would."

"I agree," M adds.

"But why glass and where would the killer have gotten it?" Kojiro asks.

"Well, now that you mention it, we did see some sort of writing on the glass," Haruna admits.

"Like a logo?" Danny asks, "I remember seeing a bottle out side the cafeteria on the floor, but I don't remember it being there afterwards."

"I was in the cafeteria with Haruna before Yoshikis murder, maybe the killer took the bottle because they saw us in there?" I guess.

"So Yoshiki was killed with a broken bottle, not a knife," Evan summarizes.

"The glass bottle doesn't prove Veliahs innocence, she could have more then one weapon," M rebukes almost immediately.

Kenta states, "and with Veliah gone we have no way of verifying her injury."

Kenta was right, I must have seen something that could help prove Veliahs injury, because if she was injured then she wouldn't have even been able to kill.

 **OBTAINED TRUTH BULLET: Bloody wooden mallet**

"The wooden mallet!" I recall, "we found the bloody wooden mallet, the blood was dry on it but it wasn't old either."

"A mallet could have easily given Veliah her head wound," Akira agrees.

"So your saying Veliah was attacked?" Haruna asks.

"Ah," I say in realization, "that explains her reaction, when I first found her I was armed with the mallet, she must have thought I was the one who attacked her!"

Kenta sighs, "That does make sense... she was very unsteady when she tried to stab me."

"If only Veliah was here, she could tell us who attacked her," Danny sighed.

"But there's still one thing I don't understand, how did you lose the real killer?" Haruna brings up.

"The physics room has a sky walk, did you guys look up or did you go straight to Veliah?" Akira asks.

"I guess we didn't look around at all," I shrug sheepishly.

"So if Veliah isn't the killer, then who is?" Kenta says annoyed.

"I don't know but Yoshikis killer knew exactly what they were doing," Kojiro states, "the way they killed proves that."

"Can you elaborate?"

"His killer not only managed to precisely cut his neck but did it while running and avoiding a witness from seeing them," Kojiro explained, "they then preceded to out run and avoid everyone until disappearing in the physics room."

"That is a lot," Akira mumbles, "they must be very skilled."

Very skilled? Someone skilled in killing... It may be a bit close minded of me to think this, but it's still a possibility we can't ignore.

"What about M?" I throw out, I almost immediately feel bad for generalizing M like that.

"The Super High School Level Assassin killing someone, who would have thought," Kenta snickers.

"You're blaming M on his talent alone?" Evan said displeased, "how close minded."

"I'm surprised we haven't blamed him sooner," Kenta laughs.

"That's true, after the Tragedy killing became so normal- the idea of a assassin wasn't as shocking as it should have been," Danny admits.

"But it's still a possibility," I stress, "was anybody with M at the time of the murder?"

"I was alone," M admitted, the court room went quite.

Everyone was confused at such a admission, Evan seem to just get angry.

"Why would you admit that, that only makes you more suspicious?" Evan asks in disbelief.

"Hey, you don't mean he seriously did it?" Haruna says shocked.

"You have no reason to suspect M, where's your evidence?" Evan shouts, "everyone is innocent until proven guilty and you need evidence to do that!"

There was something I found, at the time it didn't make sense but now it just made all the pieces fit.

"M's flashlight," I fire breaking through his attack, "Kenta and I found a flashlight when chasing the killer, so if M doesn't have his then that must mean he was the killer."

M narrows his eyes while gritting his teeth, but he never produces the flashlight.

Evan looked dejected, "I knew it, but I really wish I didn't."

"Let me show you what I think happened," I start, "First Yoshiki discovers the unfinished trap and begins his plan to kill someone with it. Then after our meeting Veliah is attacked which is why she wasn't present for the investigation, next Yoshiki enacts his plan and Kills James using the gate causing the power outage. Due to the trap Yoshiki becomes trapped upstairs where M finds him and figures out Yoshiki is James killer. M then comes down stairs and takes the glass bottle outside the cafeteria because he was unable to get a knife from the cafeteria with me and Haruna inside. Not realizing Danny was with Yoshiki, M then kills Yoshiki and then the chase begins. After we corner the hooded killer we discover the injured Veliah and mistake her to be the culprit just as the culprit planned, though I'm unsure which killer attacked her."

"I didn't hurt Veliah," M answers, "I just saw a opportunity to frame her, she was already in the physics lab."

"So then why did you kill Yoshiki?" Kojiro asked M.

M didn't say anything but pulled out a piece of paper, he handed it off to me because I was right next to him. I take the paper and unfold it to find it was M's motive letter. Seeing no better option I read it aloud.

"Masayuki Hisakawa-" M jolts at his full name being said, "your beloved father who saved you has a request, he wants you to escape this game and return to base. It's not to late to correct your mistake of joining future foundation, or maybe it is to late? You simply have to kill to find out."

"So what? Your father ordered you to escape?" Haruna asks rolling her eyes, "how is that a motive."

M was unfazed by the comment, and almost robotically he said, "Fathers orders are absolute, if he wanted me to kill everyone to escape, I will with no question."

"No hesitation, huh, were you the one who made the trap?" Kenta asks casually, "you were the one who answered a lot of the questions about it during the trial."

"Indeed," M admits, "I was going to finish it tomorrow and let fate decide who would fall to it, I never expected that someone else would use it to kill." That's one mystery down.

"Wait there's something I don't understand," Kojiro says, "Yoshiki was going to be executed anyway, why kill him? If you made the trap why not wait for Monokuma to execute him and just finish it later?"

M didn't blink, his static expression giving nothing away, "I.. I don't know," he deflected.

"You were mad," Evan stated sadly, "James was your friend and you got mad Yoshiki killed him, I was too, but I didn't find out he was the culprit until he was already dead or I would have done something too."

M looked at the ground, "isn't it stupid, I would have just killed you and James if I escaped as the blackened anyways." I don't think M meant to say that out loud.

I stare at M, what he said doesn't sound right, "Why didn't you just escape as the blackened now? Why confess?"

"I defied fathers orders once before when I joined future foundation," M replies, "I had wanted to fix that mistake after reading the motive letter...funny how in the end I still didn't follow through with the orders."

"Enough chitchat, It's voting time!" Monokuma interjected, "be sure to vote for James killer first then Yoshikis, wouldn't want to get the order mixed up!" We the cast our votes and the slots spin twice they land on Yoshiki then onto M.

"That's correct, James Guzmans killer was Yoshiki Kaiza, and Yoshiki Kaiza killer was Masayuki Hisakawa! Man what a mouthful!" The bear cackled, "Since one of our blackened has already received their execution we will move along to the next one!" Monokuma then swings his gavel onto the big red button. Silently we followed M to his execution.

 _History speed run_

 _The streets were lined with screaming fans, cheering as a open top limo roared past. M was strapped down and unable to escape, but that didn't stop him from trying to struggle, especially when a small red laser dot focused on him. The limo drifted then squealed to a stop in front of a wall, the wall spun like a revolving door and took M to a new location, he was now sitting in a chair overlooking a play from a balcony, a red dot settled on the back of his head. The wall revolved again causing M's eyes to spin in dizziness. The secret wall spun and spun, each rotation led to a new room and a new historical assassination that added laser sights until he was spotlighted in red. Sweat beaded down M's forehead and his face flushed green making his orange hair stand out. The revolving wall went faster until M was a blur, then with a final violent jerk it stopped. M settled limp in the chair with blood dripping from his nose and ears, his head hanging a bit oddly._

We all felt a bit sick after the brutal execution, death by whiplash didn't suit a strong guy like M. I got on to the elevator with everyone else but I went to stand by Evan because I wanted to ask him something. After enough people had spilled out I asked my question.

"Why didn't you just out M at the beginning, you knew he was the killer?"

"I don't know," Evan shuffled unconsciously, his dark shoulder length hair easily hiding his face, "I guess I just hoped I was wrong?"

Evan then quickly excused himself, and I was left standing in the elevator alone. I know it's good to hold out hope, but why do it for something you know won't happen? What's the use of a false hope?

* * *

 **The brand new, extra special, revamped and renewed, ghosts only, Monokuma theatre!**

"I can't believe three more people are already dead," Grant sighed, the others nodded in agreement. The whole dead group was pretty bummed at the kill count.

"I can't believe I got beheaded," James said off handedly. James then proceeds to bite the head off his sour patch kid and then curses when Yuzuru manages to steal the bag of candy from him.

"That was a pretty hardcore death," Yuzuru laughs.

"Oh, we shouldn't use such words as hardcore when talking about James-sama's death," Yukihiro comments dismayed, she hands James a new box of sour candy.

"Honestly I don't care," James admits, "I'm dead now and all that's in the past."

"You're not mad at me?" M asked hesitating, the assassin hadn't expected to meet his friend so quickly.

"Oh I am mad that you wanted to kill me," James shrugs, "but in the end you didn't, so I can forgive you."

Yoshiki sits far away from his victim and tries to ignore the conversation, next to him Alan eats some popcorn.

"You'd get used to it," Alan says.

* * *

8/15

Masayuki Hisakawa (M)- deceased- IcarusDash

Yukihiro Yamika- deceased - Schlaf

Akira Nishihara- alive

Haruna takahashi- alive

Veliah Kazeto- alive

Yoshiki Kaiza- deceased- DeadLyokoBrony

Alan Wikly- deceased- Dha3000

Sanyu Mochida- alive

Yuzuru Taoka- deceased- Beta reader!

Kenta Yuuta- alive

James Guzman- deceased- XSTRIKERS

Evan Halen- alive

Danny Walker- alive

Kojiro Ryuhisa- alive

Grant Kingsmen- deceased- Me!

* * *

 **Out of everything from V3 I don't know why I decided to reference _that_... I'm not completely happy with how this went but I do like it better then my initial draft, so for now I'm content. **

**Question for you: this is purely for entertainment, but who do you think will die or kill in chapter 4?**


	20. Chapter 4: Pit Crew

The day after the trial was tiring, but the same could be said about all of the trials. The events that transpired gave me and most likely everyone else a lot to think about, Yoshiki killing for his son and M killing because of his dad. M may not have followed through with his orders but he certainly thought about it considering the death trap he made. But in the end I guess I couldn't really blame them, after all this is the masterminds fault. Yoshiki because he was desperate to save his family, and M in the end decided he was better off without his and stuck with his friends. It was all this contemplation that made me stay up throughout the night and before I knew it the morning announcement rang.

"Oh man, did I seriously stay up all night?" I groaned. Well this isn't the first time. The first motive suddenly crept back into my mind and I shivered at the thought of being forced to stay awake like that again. In a desperate attempt to not be dead on my feet I try and force myself asleep, I'm sure no one will mind if I'm a little late.

Two hours past before I resign and sluggishly I make my way to the cafeteria where I'm met with a very odd sight. Haruna was holding a paint pallet full of different colors, what was odd was what she was painting, a feminine Monokuma teacher was sat in a chair before her and being coated in glitter.

I go to Akira to ask what was going on. Danny notices me first and gives a tired wave then yawns, it looks like I wasn't the only one who didn't get any sleep.

Akira looks up from her cereal, "Haruna wanted to make a get well present for Veliah, and before you ask, what she's doing isn't a rule break."

Thankfully Kenta decides to elaborate, "Haruna told the Monokuma teacher that painting them is part of her murder plan to kill Veliah with glitter," Kenta laughs, he was obviously enjoying the sight of Haruna turning the monochrome mask forest green and sparkly, "Apparently the Monokuma teachers are pretty dumb."

The now forest green Monokuma teacher took offense to that, "We are not dumb!" they squeak, it wasn't a voice I had heard before so this one must be new.

Haruna gave a sly smile, "Yeah you're not dumb, just super gullible!"

The back handed comment went over their head, "T-that's right!" The Monokuma cheers.

"Hey Haruna where did you find her?" Kojiro asks once he finishes his drink.

"She was in a classroom on the 4th floor, she's apparently Mono-teacher 6," Haruna replies, "that's open by the way if you guys want to check it out."

Kojiro got out of his chair, "Anyone want to come with me? I can't stand to sit here and watch such a artistic atrocity happen," Kojiro states before a depressed aura overtakes him, "all of my good paints... wasted."

"Maybe after we're finished exploring we can check on Veliah too?" Danny asks, "I heard she's still in the infirmary."

"Not until I'm finished!" Haruna commands, she then slaps her hand in the paint and then slathers it onto the Monokuma, causing Kojiro to cringe. He runs out of the room and everyone else follows after. I hear the mad cackling of a mad scientist working on their Frankenstein grow distant as I ascend the stairs.

I yawn tiredly before following the others in their search. The fourth floor had the Music Room, Staffroom, Headmaster's Office, Data Room, and Chemistry Laboratory if I remembered correctly. I never actually seen these rooms in person, only what the first killing game has shown of them. So I'm a bit giddy at the idea of entering the headmasters office. If I had gone to Hope's Peak, would I have ended up in the headmasters office? Probably, I wasn't a delinquent but you don't start competing in street races at 10 without doing something illegal. I find the office in question and ready myself to enter, only to discover it locked. Disappointed I check the other rooms.

The Music room was as big as a concert hall. A grand piano was in the center of the stage, but other then that there was nothing. The data room was locked as I found out when I jiggle the knob. I quickly take a look at one of the classrooms only to find it vacant, this one must belong to the Monokuma teacher Haruna graffitied. I check the other one and find a Monokuma teacher present confirming my suspicions that 6 must own the other.

The staff room was still just as boring, but the flowers were gone. I sit on one of the rolling chairs and spin around. Now I have only one room left.

Despite knowing, nothing prepares me for the burning smell of chemicals when I enter the chem room. Kojiro and Danny are already inside and rummaging through a large cabinet full of medicine bottles.

"They restocked the chemistry laboratory," Kojiro notes, he turns a bottle over and reads the label, "Cold relief, patented by Seiko Kimura... wait."

Danny walks over to Kojiro after hearing that, "The Mastermind seriously got their hands on genuine Seiko products?"

Kojiro put the bottle down and begins shifting through the cabinet, before coming back empty handed and disappointed, "there's no poison, just antidotes and pain relievers."

Danny rolls his eyes, "that's not something to be sad about."

"Maybe they stole these from future foundation? We were going to rebuild this place originally so it wouldn't be surprising if future foundation originally gave us this stuff to help us," I theorize.

Kojiro mumbles a, "whatever," before leaving. Danny puts the bottles back in order before taking one out to take with him. He must have seen my questioning look.

"I must be getting better at reading your face," Danny snickers before shyly explaining himself, "This says it's for insomnia, I thought Veliah might appreciate it."

I've got literally no clue on how concussions work, but that makes sense I guess?

Having checked all we could, we meet Haruna on the stairs on the way back to the first floor.

"Oh, I was just about to surprise you guys," Haruna grumbles when she sees us.

"You still can," I offer, "I don't know what you're going to show us."

Haruna rolls her eyes and steps to the side to reveal her complete creation.

We all let out a hiss of sympathy at the sight of the poor Monokuma teacher. The usual standard black suit they all wore was now a puke green with glow in the dark stars taped on, the Monokuma mask was in a even worse state. The round bear helmet was unrecognizable with its forest green matte finish and blinding glitter coating it. The most horrific aspect was the fact some of the usual felt fuzz on the helmet was coming off in clumps leaving bald spots of metal.

Akira put a hand on Haruna's shoulder and spoke for the whole group, "Maybe we should just give Veliah a card."

Haruna pouted in response before resigning, "I guess that would be better, do you really think Veliah won't like it?"

Akira glances at us, then the defaced Monokuma teacher before answering, "I think she'd like like the thought more."

Haruna rolls her eyes and huffs out a "Maybe," and we set out to visit Veliah in the infirmary. None of us were totally sure how Veliah was doing, we haven't even seen her since she left the trial yesterday. We only know what's wrong from what Akira debriefed us on, and she says Veliah has a grade 2 concussion. So I was a little nervous to actually see her again.

I walk up next to Haruna who was trailing behind with her horrifying Monokuma teacher art project, "Why are you going through all this trouble anyway?" I ask.

Haruna adverts her eyes and picks at her nails in apprehension, "I don't know, feels like I just have to, but I don't know why."

I stare at her, "Sounds like guilt, have you never felt guilt before?" I joke.

Haruna punches me in the arm before indignantly replying, "You did it too, you know? in Yukihiro's trial you said you were sorry for blaming me."

I stop playing around and get a bit more sincere, "Why do you feel like that, you've done nothing wrong."

Haruna stops messing with her nails and groans before answering my question, "I was so sure she was the killer that I completely ignored her injuries and just made them worse, not to mention I practically flung her down a flight of stairs."

"That's nothing to worry about, I think if you simply apologize Veliah will accept it," I assure Haruna, I give a thumbs up in encouragement.

"If you weren't you, I would think you were patronizing me," Haruna deadpans, she then speeds up her walk with a more chipper step to it..

Soon we were clustered outside of the infirmary waiting for the first person to break rank. Haruna was our unanimously chosen volunteer to go in. Haruna shot us all a dirty look before entering the room, the rest of us trailing behind.

Veliah was in one of two infirmary beds looking like she just woke up. Her forest green hair was tangled up in its pony tail and she had white bandages wrapped around her head. She looked very surprised to see us.

"Why are all of you here?" Veliah asks.

"We wanted to see if you're ok," Haruna scoffs, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, "I made a get well present but I was told it wasn't your style."

Veliah was even more surprised by that, "Oh, thank you Haruna, but this wasn't even that bad."

Evan step forward breaking the the pleasant but awkward atmosphere with his question, "I want to ask you about yesterday."

Veliah's mood darkens but gestures for him to continue.

"I've been wondering who exactly attacked you," Evan asked, "we never figured it out in the trial."

"My memory is still a bit fuzzy but the one who attacked me was Yoshiki, I think," Veliah informs, "I remember going to the third floor to find something important, but then someone came up behind me and I was knocked out. I woke up briefly and saw Yoshiki nearby so I believe he did it."

Kojiro looks concerned at the new information, "Do you remember what you went upstairs for? Maybe Yoshiki called you there."

Veliah shakes her head no before continuing, "No, I went to the third floor by my own volition, but I just can't remember it."

"Let's get of of this dreary topic and on to something totally cooler," Haruna declares, she side steps out of the room then comes right back in dragging something.

Akira puts a hand over face in denial, "You didn't seriously bring her did you?"

Haruna pulls her terrifying living art into the room and onto full display. Veliah does a double take at the sight of it, her orange eyes going wide.

"Oh Akira, if there is one thing you should know," Haruna says all knowingly, "it's that I'm always right."

Veliah doesn't know how to react to the creature and ends up just laughing nervously, "What is that?" She asks Danny quietly.

"It's Haruna's get well present," Danny whispers back. Veliah doesn't seem anymore enlightened but thanks Haruna for the gift anyway.

At Akira's insistence that Veliah needs time to relax, we wave goodbye and leave. We go back into the cafeteria with a lighter mood. And with our new found clarity we also see something else... dust.

"This place is actually disgusting..." Kenta grimaces when he steps in something sticky.

"We were here to originally clean," Evan replies, "I guess even in this kind of situation we still need to..."

Kojiro observes the dusty chairs, "It wasn't this dirty before?"

"Yukihiro used to clean on her down time," Akira remembers with a smile, "it's probably why we never had to before."

"Well why don't we clean then!" Haruna says enthusiastically, "We could set up some tasks to do everyday and we can sign up for them?"

"Like a chore chart?" Danny asks.

"Exactly!" Haruna snaps her fingers.

A chore chart doesn't sound all that appealing but it will give us something to do and keep the school clean as a bonus. The place certainly needs it, the trash can was over filled and there were dishes piled high in the sink. Haruna doesn't wait for a response before rushing out of the room only to comeback moments later with a arm full of iteams. She flips to a random page in a notebook she brought and begins to write things down.

"Ok, so we can do laundry, dishes, ummm, cleaning, garbage disposal, anything else?" Haruna asks, she bites the end of her pencil, "oh! Night patrol!"

"Are those the jobs?" Kenta asks leaning in to get a better look. Haruna nods.

"Ok everyone sign up! These jobs are daily and we need at least one each," Haruna orders sliding the notebook over to us. Evan scowls and hesitantly takes the chewed up pencil, before long we all had our tasks.

"Haruna and Kenta signed up twice," Evan points out, "you two sure you want extra shifts?"

"To tell you the truth I think this whole clean up the school thing is kinda fun," Haruna admits, "so I don't mind!"

"I think everyone should be in pairs," Kenta reasons, "so I signed up twice to not leave anyone alone."

Haruna then rolls out a large sheet of paper and starts to draw a schedule with the words Chore Chart in bubble letters at the top. Haruna tapes the sheet to the cafeteria wall for us all to see.

 **Chore Chart 3**

Laundry- Haruna, Kenta

Dishes- Veliah, Kojiro

General Cleaning- Danny, Sanyu

Garbage disposal- Evan, Kenta

Night Patrol- Haruna, Akira

I ended up with Danny for general cleaning, and he was pretty friendly so I didn't mind.

"I guess we don't need a set time so do them whenever you want," Haruna waves off, "let's start doing them now! The sooner the better right!"

"I have a question on what a few of these mean," Danny says catching her attention, "like general cleaning and night patrol?"

"General cleaning is things like sweeping and dusting," Haruna elaborates, "and night patrol means Akira and I will make sure everyone is in their rooms after the nighttime announcement!"

"I don't know if I like the idea of being confined to my room," Kojiro protests.

Haruna scoffs, "We aren't doing that, we're just making sure no one gets hurt at night so you can move around all you want."

Kojiro seems satisfied with her answer.

So with our questions answered we begin our new daily routine. A few jobs like laundry and garbage disposal were quickly found to be to crowded with two people so they were broken up in to a rotating schedule. Danny and I decided to start with the first floor then work ourselves up a level each day.

I liked my general cleaning job despite its vagueness and I usually ended up bumping into others around the school which was a fun surprise. The day passed surprisingly quickly and when it came time for bed I ached with a pleasant tiredness only earned from hard work... it was nice.

Haruna and Akira began their job with the announcement and I waved them goodnight before settling in for the best sleep I've had since I got here.

If more days were like this, then maybe this place wouldn't be so bad?

* * *

 ** _(Pen Pals #1)_**

 _A paper burned in the incinerator, it's writing was thick and heavy, like the writer pressed too hard with their pen._

 _"Do you remember the first killing game, don't you think this is similar? Something is definitely up." The letter had said, now it's just ash._

 _After returning to their room the receiver quickly wrote their answer, their penmanship much more fluid._

 _"I do remember, and I agree," they replied, "so what should we do about it?"_

 _The next day that note was torn up and flushed down the toilet._

* * *

 _ **Just a lighter chapter, felt like a break was needed :v**_

 _ **Question: if I drew your characters would you guys like me to post it? It'll just be my interpretation so you guys can still imagine them how you want.**_


	21. Chapter 4: Start your Engines!

Going to bed early doesn't mean you'll wake up early, I quickly found out. I stretch getting out of bed and check under my mattress making sure my Master Monokuma Key was safe. It was still there and tied to Yuzurus bracelet he gave me. It was a little after the morning announcement so I start on my way to the cafeteria.

I barely make it through the door before a voice flickers to life through the intercom. Do they always have to start these motives so early?

I join up with Akira and Danny on their way out. Danny was looking significantly more well rested then yesterday. Akira was looking good too, though I suspect she didn't brush her hair if the messy pony tail was any indication. The killing game must be whittling away our ability to care about appearances, how on earth did the first games participants manage to look so pristine everyday is beyond me.

We all gather in the gym ready to receive our next motive and ready to get past it. The female Monokuma teacher that acted as our announcer was once agin on the stage ready to deliver her sentence, "I'm glad so many of you have made it to the fourth motive," the female announcer welcomed, "but I'm afraid your short peace is over."

As she said this a Monokuma teacher appeared on the stage and I immediately recognized it at 6 due to the remains of green paint stuck in the mask. Haruna gives a enthusiastic wave, which 6 happily returns much to the announcers dismay. 6 had wheeled in a tall upright rectangular box with a gray sheet covering it.

"This is your motive- The Monokuma Teller," the female announcer states before pulling off the cloth in a sweeping fashion to reveal a fortune teller machine. The strange machine looked like a old sideshow attraction, it had a gypsy like Monokuma hunches over a crystal ball inside.

We all exchanged glances, this was indeed a weird motive.

"This is no ordinary fortune teller, because it tells the past instead of the future," the Announcer revealed, "simply put in one of your provided gold coins in the Monokuma Teller and it will bestow you with a secret of the past."

"How far back in the past does it go?" Kenta questions.

"What, did you do something illegal as a baby?" Haruna jokes.

The Announcer continues her explanation, "There are specific direction provided on the machine, simply read those to answer your questions," the Announcer then began to make her way off stage.

"Are you just going to leave it there?" Danny asks in confusion.

"It's your motive isn't it, do with it what you will," was the Announcers stiff reply before she disappeared behind the curtains.

"We should read the instructions on it," Evan proposes, "it would be good to find out the motive in full before we get any surprises."

Danny fidgeted, "I don't know, wouldn't it be better if we didn't, then we won't be tempted by the motive."

"I think so too," Akira agrees.

"Then you two can leave while we check this thing out," Kojiro says already making his way to the stage, he then hops up onto it and gives the machine a quick inspection, "doesn't look like there's anything dangerous."

"It may not look dangerous, but that doesn't mean we should mess with it," Veliah scolds, "I agree with Akira and Danny, we should leave it alone."

Evan shakes his head with a sigh, "If we have everything in the open now then we can better plan to stop a murder... We don't want people keeping secrets."

"It's a machine that deals secrets, do you plan to buy them all out then read them off?" Haruna scoffs, "I actually think it's best to leave it alone."

"Oh, I didn't expect to hear that from you," Kenta replies with a mock gasp.

Haruna scowls, "I just think it's best to leave things in the past."

"I see a pretty even split in opinions here," Kenta notes, "how about everyone who doesn't want to check the machine just go, then you guys can already know who has seen the machine so if something happens you'll already have your suspects!"

Veliah let's out a sigh, "I can work with that," she replies before leaving the room, Haruna trailing after her. Soon after Akira and Danny leave as well.

"So everyone here is deciding to stay?" Kenta asks and a beat of silence passes. Evan simply joins Kojiro on the stage instead of answering Kenta.

"Actually I'm going," I admit, the others are right we shouldn't be pulled into the motive. I go to leave but check the Bulletin board before fully going.

 **The bulletin bored**

 **1, Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.**

 **2\. "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**

 **3\. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly.**

 **4\. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.**

 **5\. Violence against headmaster, and teachers is strictly prohibited.**

 **6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.**

 **7\. Do not destroy the Monokuma Teller under any circumstance.**

 **8\. More rules may be added if necessary.**

Once again rule 7 was different, I guess 'do not destroy under any circumstance' counts murder assistance too, there goes that loop hole. I exit the gym and head to the cafeteria. On my way I notice Haruna standing in the hallway alone, maybe I should spend some time with her?

"Hey Haruna," I say getting her attention, "you look a bit gloomy, something wrong?"

Haruna dramatically sighs before shyly replying, "I thought I could last longer but it's finally got to me, I'm getting cabin fever, I need some sun."

Well that makes sense, Haruna is the Super High School Level Soccer player. But there was nothing we could do about that, the school is still on lockdown and the windows are just as reinforced as before. There had to be something we can do though? Maybe something to entertain her?

"We could play some soccer?" I suggest unsure, "if we keep it in the halls then it should be ok."

"Sanyu, you're brilliant!" Haruna cheers but then she stops short, "We don't have any soccer balls."

"I'm sure we can find something?" I assure. Together we went to the storage room where we managed to find a sturdy beach ball. Haruna was indignant at the idea of using it but eventually her muscle headed instincts took over and she agreed. Once in a suitable place where we wouldn't bother anyone, we started to kick the ball back and forth. It was absolutely terrifying.

"Stop aiming for my face!" I cry in fear as the ball whizzes by.

Haruna cackles when the ball ricochet off the back of the passing Monokuma teacher 6's head. I start to panic because I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a rule break, but 6 looks around in confusion and simply walks away.

"6 has a harder head then me, you could hit her with a brick and she wouldn't notice," Haruna explains, then waves her hand in a shooing motion, "now get the ball so we can continue!"

I roll my eyes and pick up the beach ball, "You seem to get along with the Monokuma teachers," I point out.

Haruna cocks her hips and leans against the wall, "They're just unusually stupid, just talk to them and you find they don't think for themselves at all."

"Why are you talking to them anyway?" I ask, I lightly kick the ball to Haruna.

Haruna bumps the ball into the air and begins to juggle it from knee to knee, "I wanted to see if I could get any information, besides, they are fun to mess with."

"Ugh, I don't know how you can feel comfortable enough to do that," I admit.

"Hey, I've still got my despair bodyguards to protect me," Haruna wiggles her eyebrows, "I've got nothing to worry about."

I look at Haruna incredulously, "Why on earth do you still want them as your 'despair' bodyguards?"

Haruna gives a enthusiastic laugh before smirking, "Isn't it obvious? Kenta and Kojiro are total hotties!"

My eye twitches and I feel my opinion of Haruna lower a few pegs.

Haruna raises her hands and frames me with her fingers, she sticks her tongue out in concentration, "You could be pretty attractive too, Sanyu," Haruna judges.

My opinion of Haruna rises, and I think I like her better then before, "What's that supposed to mean?" I blush.

Haruna closes one eye and moves her hand to, what I can guess, block something out of her vision, "Totally! Like if you just slept a little more, ate a little more, you'd go from homeless guy under a bridge to hot guy next door!" Haruna jabs me in the side with a friendly hit, "You're seriously skinny, did you forget to eat or something?"

I rub the back of my head sheepishly, "I didn't eat breakfast today actually, I forgot."

Haruna frowns before jabbing me again with more force, "Then let's go!" I am then roped into accompanying Haruna to the kitchen.

"I can get the food you can just sit and rest," I offer, Haruna did look a little tired from demonstrating her numerous full power kicks. I enter the kitchen, and I'm met with Danny already inside, "Hey Danny."

Danny turns around startled, "O-oh, Sanyu," he stumbles, "what brings you here?"

"To eat," I respond. Danny nods quickly and edges to the door, his arms folded out of sight behind his back, "Are you hiding something?" I ask, suspicious.

"What, no!" Danny denies then slips out the door, and I catch sight of something metal in his hands. I shrug and retrieve some sandwiches.

After the strange encounter, I rejoined Haruna. Together we ate sandwiches and Dr. Hoppers (The only soda company lucky enough to survive the apocalypse.) I suspect the reason Haruna was so adamant about me coming is that her usual lunch buddy Kenta is out messing with the motive. I can see Haruna being the kind of person who hates eating alone, or being alone in general.

After lunch I wave good bye to Haruna, and I feel like we grew a little closer today. On my way out I spot the Chore Chart and I'm reminded of my daily task, the vague job of general cleaning. No time better then the present, might as well get started. So I start my job and anticipate who I'll run into today.

Surprisingly it's Veliah who I see in my general cleaning duties. I figure I've cleaned enough and decide to talk to her, "Hey Veliah," I greet.

Veliah eyes the feather fan in my hands, before asking, "What are you doing?"

I knew Veliah missed the chore chart sign up, but I thought someone would have told her, "We have a chore chart now, you're on dish duty."

Veliah didn't respond, but her uninterested look told the story. Her stare was broken by a yawn.

"Oh, that reminds me, how was the insomnia cure working?" I ask, curious. If the stuff works then I might get myself some.

Veliah only looks confused, "I never got any cure? And I shouldn't take sleeping medicine with my concussion, I'm not healed enough for such a deep sleep like that."

I was taken aback by her answer, "Danny said he was going to give it to you?" I inform. Maybe Danny just hasn't seen Veliah yet and that's why she doesn't know, but even then apparently she can't use it.

"Danny? I saw him earlier but he never said anything about sleeping pills?" Veliah says, "Maybe you heard him wrong."

"Maybe," I admit absently. I don't think I heard it wrong, he definitely said he was going to give it to Veliah. I mean, he wouldn't lie. I start walking away from Veliah and I lazily dust whatever.

If Danny didn't give the Insomnia cure to Veliah, then why did he take it? Why lie in the first place? I remember back to earlier in the kitchen when Danny was trying to hide something. What could he have taken from the kitchen? Something dangerous? I suddenly get very nervous as possibilities run through my mind.

Danny couldn't be thinking about killing, could he? It couldn't have been a knife I saw?

Danny doesn't seem like that kind of person from what I've see. But what if that's all a lie? What if this motive finally made him reveal his true colors? His past can't be that horrible right? Maybe I should investigate?

But I can't confront him directly. That's basically me accusing him of planning murder! And I already know how much he dislikes that, if Danny's reaction to M insinuating he'd kill Akira, is anything to go by. So then, how can I find out if Danny is really ok or if something is going on?

That's it! I can just check Danny's room, make sure he doesn't have anything dangerous in there, then I'll know he's innocent!

Proud of my intuitive thinking, I quickly make note of where Danny is. Once sure he wouldn't discover me I sneak back to my own room. With my Monokuma Master key, unlocking the dorms will be easy as pie. I reach under my mattress and obtain the item, but as I go to leave something catches my eye. Three shiny gold coins were on my desk. I pick one up and inspect it, engraved were the words 'Monokuma Teller'. These must be the tokens to activate the motive. I put the coin down and resume my mission to clear Danny's name.

Quietly I unlock Danny's door, and enter. His room has the same layout as mine but it's more personalized, it's got a distinct magic aura to it. From what I can see there's nothing dangerous so that eases my mind a bit. I step around a box of random items and find what I was looking for, the medicine bottle. Hesitant, I pick it up and read the label.

"Insomnia cure, 15mL for a full 8 hours." I scan over the small print until I find the warnings, "Warning; keep out of reach of children, blah blah, oh, Non lethal." So that means Danny really wasn't going to kill anyone!

I put the bottle down and I notice the table spoon next to it (that must be the metal object I saw in the kitchen), I then get a feeling and I check the amount left. There was some liquid gone and the seal had be broken, maybe the reason Danny took it was to use it himself? I mean, it has gotten hard to sleep lately. Satisfied I place down the bottle and leave the room.

If Danny is using medicine to get some sleep maybe I will too? I haven't slept well the other days but last night was ok. I should get my own bottle just in case though.

I open the cabinet and shift through glass and plastic bottles. I turn bottles around and check labels but I couldn't find anymore Insomnia cures. If I want to use it I'll just have to borrow it, but I don't want to do that either. Guess I just won't sleep. With that idea trashed I leave the room and my attention is drawn to the headmasters office. I suddenly get a idea, I pull out my Monokuma Master key.

I held the key forward and made to unlock the headmasters office. Sadly the key didn't fit, hope edging away I tried the data room next only for the key to not work there either.

"Does my Monokuma Master key only work on door rooms?" I sigh, some master key. I was so disappointed I didn't even see the figure behind me.

"It's supposed to belong to us," 55 says, he flashes peace signs when I whip around to face him, "that's a Monokuma _teacher_ key, it's for us to use."

"Why didn't you just tell me this in the beginning or take it?" I ask in annoyance. Why get my hopes up only to crush them, well for them that might actually be the reason.

"I didn't know what to do, boss told us not to lose them," 55 says sheepishly, "boss never said what to do if we _did_ lose them, so I need to ask."

I roll my eyes, "Haruna is right, you are all stupid," I then glumly go down the stairs. After finding out how restricted my key really was I figured I needed a pick me up. Maybe I could go for a swim? I grab some towels from the laundry room and say hi to Kenta who was in the middle of his folding.

I find Evan in the pool, well not in it, by it. He was still fully dressed in his plastic lawn chair sitting by the corner reading a book. Evan looked up when I entered but didn't say anything. I sneak a look at the book he was reading and was surprised to find it in a different language.

"Is that German?" I ask, curious, "I didn't know you knew German."

Evan closes the book and shows me the cover, I couldn't read the title but it looked pretty, "I am German, I was born in Germany but moved to Greece at a young age."

I was shocked at that, "Why? Changing cultures like that must have been a big shock."

Evan nods, "My father had a job offer, it was for a better opportunity."

Evans story brought another one to mind, I remember back to the first motive, "You and Veliah would get along, she had to move from her home in Italy to a whole new one too," I explain.

"I've always been a background kind of guy, and Veliah isn't exactly personable," Evan admits, he slumps in his chair, "I don't really feel like making anymore friends."

I nod, I can understand how he feels in a way, "Well I'm going, this place is like a sauna and I'm parched," I inform. I wave good bye to Evan who resumes reading his German book.

In the cafeteria I see Akira and Danny sitting at one of the tables, they were both enjoying tea. I wasn't surprised by the comfortable silence, rather I was surprised by the fancy set up. There's a full blown China tea set display on the table. I give a questioning look to the tow but they simply slid a full cup over to me. Getting a better look now this had the same color scheme as all the gambling items I found when I did innovatory check in the first motive.

"What's the occasion?" I ask. I take a drink of Earl gray milk tea, how fancy.

"Are we not allowed to enjoy ourselves?" Akira questions, faking a fancy voice. She then drops the act and answers my question, "Haruna wanted to try this fancy tea but she skipped out, Danny offered to help me finish it," Akira picks the tea pot and pours some more in my cup, "You can have more if you want, Haruna literally made 2 gallons."

I roll my eyes and laugh, "Somehow, I'm not surprised." My good mood was cut short when static fills the room and I realize the intercom was on. Was it already time for the night time announcement? No, something was different?

"The night time announcement is early?" Akira points out. A different voice speaks through the PA. I recognize the voice as the woman who typically reads the motives.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the female announcers regal voice apologizes in the most coy way possible, "it seems there is something I forgot to tell you, how foolish of me."

Something she forgot to tell us? Did she leave something out of the motive or is it something unrelated? I look worriedly at Akira and Danny, but they were both looking at the source of the voice.

"There is another part to the motive, from now on I'll be doing our wonderful night time announcement," Announcer purrs into mic, "I'll have a little secret segment, with a random one of you as our special guest."

"A secret segment?" Danny wonders absently, "why keep it a secret?"

"That's not what she meant," Akira warns, her jaw clinched.

"Our secret of the night is a special one that includes a lot of you here," Announcer hints, "Your dear friends, Veliah Kazeto, Sanyu Mochida, Kenta Yuuta, and Kojiro Ryuhisa are all remnants of despair, and that's just the living ones."

My mind went fuzzy, and I lock eyes with Akira and Danny. I get out of my seat so fast it clatters over and I run out of the room ignoring their calls. I make it back to my room and slam the door shut. I willed the announcement to be over but it still continued.

"Tomorrow we'll choose another secret to read out," the Announcer teased, "you don't want to miss it, goodnight everyone."

I didn't sleep a wink that night. I stayed up, thinking about my many secrets that could be next.

* * *

 _ **(Pen Pals #2)**_

 _"This isn't right?!" The thick letters complained, "This won't end with a case like Sakura Oogami, why didn't they follow the original 4th motive?"_

 _"Maybe our killing game is different," the fluid note replied, "maybe the similarities are just in our heads."_

 _"Maybe your right," the thick letters originally said, but that was crossed out with a angry line, "I am not wrong," it said instead._

 _Once again the correspondents destroyed the others letter, covering their tracks in fear of the mastermind._

* * *

 **Break over let's kill :y**

 **also I realized last chapter was number 20, I feel like I passed a milestone.**


End file.
